Johan Pehrson, leader of the Liberals and Minister for Employment and Integration, wants to reduce the state grants to ethnic organizations as a way to improve integration. ”We want to invest broadly in integration, where activity is at the center and not ethnicity,” says party leader Johan Pehrson to TT. The issue will be raised by the Liberals in the budget negotiations with the other parties this autumn. The idea of a new grant line is to make it difficult for associations that fuel ethnic conflicts or engage in propaganda. Johan Pehrson highlights, among other things, Dagens Nyheter’s revelation that the Russian Federation has spread Putin propaganda while receiving state grants. By focusing on ”interest and activities,” rather than ethnic background, integration will be strengthened. ”Sweden is a country built on popular movements in the broad sense. We must now bring this into today’s Sweden so that more people are involved as scouts, in sports, and in culture. Then we must gather strength there. That’s how we drive integration forward, so that people from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, do things together regardless of whether they engage in crafts or play basketball,” says Pehrson. ”But it should not be based on whether one has a Russian or other background.” ”The money is squandered” Pehrson points to an investigation by the National Audit Office, which shows that weak state control of grants opens up for fraud and abuse. ”The money is squandered on things that in the worst case not only counteract integration but work on behalf of a foreign power. That’s what we want to address,” says Pehrson. TT: Will it become generally more difficult for associations with an ethnic focus to receive grants? ”Yes, the idea is that one should receive more grants for playing basketball and engaging in culture. If I have a say, it means that the money is transferred to broad integration activities.” ”Meaningful leisure time” Pehrson emphasizes that it is important for the control of who receives state grants to work well but stresses that he ”would prefer not to see so many grants” at all to ethnic associations. ”I want to move the money from ethnic associations to other associations. Associations are good and contribute powerfully to integration, hope for the future, and meaningful leisure time.” Pehrson may consider exceptions for national minorities. ”But generally speaking, this is the direction we want to go.”
