Swedish prime minister loses temper at press conference on energy crisis

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson visibly lost his composure during a press event outside Stockholm on Saturday, as journalists pressed him on the government’s latest emergency measures amid the Hormuz Strait shipping crisis, public broadcaster SVT reported.

The event, held at a bus depot in Gustavsberg, began with Tidö coalition leaders—including Kristersson—testing public transport vehicles before shifting to policy announcements. But the mood turned tense when reporters questioned the substance of the new measures, designed to offset soaring energy costs after the closure of the Hormuz Strait disrupted global oil flows.

“It feels like there’s a sore spot here,” SVT political reporter Erik Nilsson later noted in the broadcaster’s weekly politics program, Politik, politik, politik!, referencing Kristersson’s sharp responses.

The prime minister’s irritation flared as questioning persisted, though SVT did not specify which exchanges triggered the outburst. The government had framed the event as an opportunity to highlight both cost-cutting transit policies and its broader crisis response.