Gellerbrant takes parental leave after Expo report

Gustav Gellerbrant, head of the Sweden Democrats’ coordination office in the Government Offices, has rejected claims about his partner’s links to Russian state actors and the spread of Russian propaganda, calling them “claims and isolated pieces of information”. SVT reports that he will take immediate parental leave.

Gellerbrant said the claims were intended to cast suspicion on his partner because of her Russian background. She has lived with Gellerbrant since 2024 and works as an official for the Sweden Democrats in parliament.

According to an investigation by the newspaper Expo, she has links to Russian state actors, including through sharing pro-Russian propaganda, taking part in a Kremlin-sponsored trip to Russia and attending cultural events.

In a social media post on Sunday, Gellerbrant said some of the posts cited were very old and involved “obvious irony and sarcasm”. He said she had also expressed bitter criticism of the Russian regime, both before and after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He quoted her description of 24 February 2022 as “the worst day of my life”.

Gellerbrant criticised media coverage, saying it had placed “an inhuman strain on my family”. He said he would hand over his access card and computer to the Government Offices during his parental leave, both to create further distance and to avoid shifting focus during the ongoing election campaign.