White Nationalists Seek Gains In Sweden

Voters in Sweden are going to the polls today, with fears that an anti-immigration, white nationalist party will gain seats and be a new voice in Swedish politics. The influx of immigrants fleeing violence in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere have fueled the so-called Sweden Democrats, a party rooted in white supremacy and which also favors leaving the European Union, a key goal of thug Vladimir Putin's regime throughout Europe.

The immigration of some 163,000 people in 2015 has divided the Swedish population. Right-wing parties with similar platforms across Europe have been making gains ever since the rise of immigration resulting from the war in Syria in particular. The Syrian conflict, with Putin allied with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to crush the opposition, has forced hundreds of thousands to seek asylum in Europe, with Germany and Sweden receiving the bulk. In that sense, Putin gets doubly rewarded: maintaining Syria as a client state in the Middle East from which Russia can expand its influence, and destabilizing European democracies by supporting pro-Kremlin extreme right-wing nationalist parties.

Polls close in Sweden at 1 p.m. EST.