Jimmie Åkesson: We Must Make Sure It Isn’t 2015 All Over Again

Jimmie Åkesson is the leader of the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna). As reported here a couple of days ago, he recently visited the Turkish side of the border between Greece and Turkey to hand out leaflets to migrants telling them that Sweden is full, and that they should not try to go there.

The video below is an audio-only interview with Mr. Åkesson. Many thanks to Kronans Martell (Ullis News) for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Video transcript:

00:00   I talked to a lot of people today,
00:04   including migrants, police officers, journalists,
00:09   not least to obtain an understanding about
00:12   who the people here are and where they’re heading.
00:16   Many say that they’re on their way to northern Europe.
00:19   They want to go to Germany, Sweden, France, etc. That’s is essentially what I am doing.
00:24   We also handed out leaflets that inform about Sweden,
00:28   and that it is full, and we can’t receive any more people.
00:31   What is written in the leaflets? — Basically it’s written that Sweden is full!
00:36   And we’re unable to give money or provide housing to more migrants.
00:42   So if they want to go to Sweden, they shouldn’t.
00:47   Who has received the leaflets? Who did you distribute them to?
00:51   To migrants. Predominantly adult men…
00:55   A lot of them want to go to Europe, and particularly northern Europe, due to various reasons.
01:02   How do the migrants react to the leaflets?
01:07   Many do understand the message!
01:10   But they certainly have their own perspective, as I have mine.
01:13   I’m a Swedish politician, and I have the responsibility to make sure Swedish society
01:18   is free of conflicts as much as possible, and to keep it coherent. And to keep the welfare system
01:21   in check. This could be insignificant from their perspective;
01:24   therefore they may not care as much about what I’m saying.
01:27   What do you think when you meet them? How do they feel and how do they appear?
01:32   Do you feel anything? Does it grieve you?
01:38   I experience a mixture of feelings.
01:41   On one side, it’s definitely saddening, and I feel,
01:44   along with them, their very vulnerable situation.
01:47   They are often far away from their homes,
01:50   and are on their way to Europe, and they probably dream about it.
01:54   On the other hand, I am worried that there might be a new situation
01:58   similar to the one we had in 2015 when we lost control.
02:01   That shouldn’t happen again! Therefore, it’s important
02:05   to assist Greece in maintaining the external border,
02:08   to make sure it won’t be 2015 all over again. —Do you think that by doing this
02:12   it would be taken as a provocation from you and the Sweden Democrats?
02:15   There are certainly people who will take it as a provocation!
02:18   But I consider it to be my responsibility to express the message,
02:22   which I think is important and real, in all plausible contexts,
02:25   and to be out in the real world,
02:28   also to inspect the way the bits and pieces relate to each other.
02:32   Not merely through the filters and of the media and social media platforms,
02:36   which don’t always convey the whole picture. I am grateful
02:39   for what I can acquire by being present here.