Conclusion

TALMANNEN

Honorable members! Today marks the conclusion in the chamber before the Riksdag's Christmas break, even though there will also be interpellation debates here in the chamber tomorrow.

The past year has shown that we live in a restless time. A time when war rages both in Europe and in the Middle East. A time when different value systems and interests collide. A time when democracy is challenged.

In this time, you as members of Parliament have an important role to play in the defense of the peace and the freedom that our country enjoys.

Swedish defense and security policy has been debated in the chamber several times during the autumn. There is a broad consensus that we need to do more to meet the threats to peace and freedom, but opinions sometimes differ on how we should prioritize among what needs to be done.

This is just an example of how you members of Parliament during the past year have shown that you are capable of ensuring what unites, but for that reason, do not fear a debate on differences of opinion. My conclusion is that our democracy stands strong in a time of trials.

At the conclusion of the spring session in the chamber, I spoke about the problem of hecklers disturbing in the gallery. I said then that differences of opinion are an important part of democracy, but that we need to manage the conflicts within the framework of commonly agreed rules of the game.

At the beginning of the autumn, we saw continued disturbances and incidents in the gallery, and the security work has continued to develop. One measure that has been taken is the installation of the net in front of part of the gallery. In the spring, it will be replaced with a net that is specially adapted for the site. The Riksdag must constantly strive to find the right balance between openness and security.

The new, more serious security situation is also reflected in the Riksdag Administration's operational plan for next year, which the Riksdag Board recently decided on. The ambitions include, among other things, a strengthened capacity and a strengthened preparedness for crises, war, and the threat of war.

It is about a strengthened capacity within operational security work as well as handling the result of the investigation on the legal conditions for the administration to strengthen the security in the assignment for you as members. The latter is an example of the member focus that, according to the plan, shall characterize the Riksdagsförvaltning's work.

Honorable members! Defending peace and freedom is not solely about preparing for a deteriorated global situation. At least as important is managing and developing our democratic heritage. I would like to mention a few examples of development work in the Riksdag linked to democracy.

The parliamentary committee, under the leadership of Berit Högman, is reviewing the support for your members from the Riksdag Administration. The committee is to submit its report in the spring.

The Riksdag Administration's working group for equality is collaborating with researchers from Uppsala University who are conducting a study on how the political parties and the Riksdag work to combat and manage harassment and violence against politicians. The group is led, as is known, by the first deputy speaker and the second deputy speaker.

A large number of Members of Parliament participate in election observation missions. It is an important contribution to help consolidate, strengthen, or develop democracy in different countries. But it is also part of the international cooperation that becomes even more important in a time of increasing tensions.

Furthermore, the Riksdag has recently concluded a democracy-promoting cooperation with the Parliament of North Macedonia. Now we are initiating a similar cooperation with the Parliament of Armenia under the leadership of the first deputy speaker and the third deputy speaker.

The Reference Group for Parliamentary Research, which is led by the second deputy speaker, organizes seminars on issues close to parliament, most recently on the relationship between law and politics.

I recently reopened the Democracy Workshop in Gamla stan after an extensive modernization, and it has been fully booked ever since by school students who have gained an insight into the Riksdag's work. This is a reminder that the vast majority of those who visit the Riksdag do so in an organized manner to learn more about the work in this fantastic house.

Honorable members! Our joint work for democracy is not only carried out here in the Riksdag building. You members perform an important part of your mandate in your own constituencies and have many local and regional contacts. As Speaker and Chairman of the Foundation Sweden's National Day, I would therefore like to ask you, each of you, for help.

A new development since a few years back, which you may have noted, is that associations and other organizations as well as schools, educational institutions, and nursing homes can apply to have a Swedish flag flown for a day over the Östra riksdagshuset. To receive a flag in connection with National Day 2025, one must apply before February 1. The foundation wants more applications, so please feel free to spread the word about this. More can be read on nationaldagen.se. There, one can also read about the traditional opportunity to apply for a Swedish banner. Also regarding banners, one must apply before February 1, 2025.

The Swedish flag is a unifying symbol for Sweden, a symbol for our democracy. The Foundation distributes flags and banners to highlight this important symbol, but also to emphasize the important work being carried out, not least within civil society.

Honorable members! We live, as said, in restless times. In times like these, the need for good neighbors is greater than ever.

Nordic cooperation has a long history and is extensive. An important forum is the Nordic Council, where Sweden will hold the presidency in 2025. In October next year, we will therefore welcome the members of the other Nordic countries here to the Riksdag for the Council's session.

Next year we can also highlight another organization for cooperation: the EU. On January 1, 2025, it will be 30 years since Sweden became a member of the European Union. Not everyone may think this is worth celebrating. But the fact is that more and more Swedes, now an overwhelming majority, are positive about our country being in the EU. One explanation could be that the union is increasingly seen as a cooperation to promote peace, freedom, and democracy.

When demonstrators in Georgia's capital Tbilisi drape themselves in the EU flag, it is of course to express their support for the EU's expansion and a desire for their own country to join, but it is not only about that. They also do it for the same reason as the demonstrators once erected a copy of the Statue of Liberty at Tiananmen Square. They see in the EU flag a symbol of freedom from oppression.

On 1 January 2025, it will also be 50 years since our new form of government came into force. Earlier this year, the Riksbank's Jubilee Fund, as you know, published the book En författning i tiden, regeringsformen under 50 år. The Fund is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and has, as you know, a close connection to the Riksdag, not least by having several members of parliament on the Fund's board.

As an early Christmas present, you members receive today a completely fresh work in the same spirit, also published by the Riksbank's Jubilee Fund, namely Fundamental Questions, Constitutional Challenges in Times of Change. It will be something to have between Kalle Anka and Karl-Bertil. It is an anthology where academics and practitioners tackle current constitutional questions, for example whether we, in the ambition to defend democracy, should make it easier or harder to change our constitutions.

The book is a result of the discussions in the constitutional area group of the Riksbank's Jubilee Fund; a group in which the Committee on the Constitution participates. It is yet another fine example of what can be achieved when research and politics meet.

Honorable members! I would now like to conclude by thanking each and every one of you for the work you have put in for the Riksdag and for Sweden during the year. I also want to extend a warm thank you to the Speaker's Presidium, the group leaders, the presidiums of the committees and the international delegations, as well as the members of the Riksdag Board for good cooperation.

I also direct a warm thank you to the Director-General of the Riksdag and all employees in the Riksdag Administration. You make invaluable contributions for the Riksdag and its members.

Also, the employees at the party offices are central for the political work to be carried out. A warm thank you also to you.

When one speaks about the state of the world, it often becomes quite gloomy. To end in a more hopeful spirit, I would like to quote the former Speaker, Birgitta Dahl, whom we honored here in the chamber yesterday. This is what she said a few years ago in Sveriges Radios Sunday interview:

"Swedish politicians are masters at negotiating their way to good compromises on difficult problems. Sweden's democracy has lived through difficult times before. We have a long experience of being able to reason our way to solutions for difficult problems."

With the encouraging and possibly exhorting words, I would like to wish you all a well-deserved holiday, a very Merry Christmas, and eventually a Happy New Year. Thank you for this year!

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Tomas Eneroth (S)

Mr. Speaker and Deputy Speakers! It is part of the tradition that the Speaker of the House of Commons thanks the Speaker and the Deputy Speakers and wishes them a joyful Christmas.

I know that I speak for all of us members when I say that we are so grateful for the incredible work you put in during the parliamentary year in the Speaker's Presidency. Thank you - from the bottom of my heart. Leading debates in the country's most talkative and engaged assembly is truly not easy, let alone leading long and sometimes quite complicated motions. But with patience, good pedagogical skills, and not least concentration, you do this work perfectly. Now you have actually steered us all the way to the Christmas break.

It is a long-awaited and much-needed Christmas break after an autumn filled with budget debates, extra-budget debates, committee debates, committee trips, meetings, and visits in the constituency, and we must also not forget the booking of trips, filling out travel reimbursements, registering visits, booking venues, and other important political tasks that we members also spend a great deal of time on.

I would still like to say that we receive fantastic support from the Riksdag Administration to be able to fulfill our mandates as elected members. On behalf of all members, I also want to take the opportunity to thank all of you who make this possible: the Chamber Office, the committee offices, the facility management, the security guards, the restaurant staff, and everyone else who, in the service of democracy, create the conditions for the Riksdag and for us elected members to operate.

In the ongoing joint investigation into the members' work, the so-called parliamentary investigation, it is also our hope that we will, in broad agreement, come forward with further proposals that improve the conditions for our work as members, so that more of our time can be spent on what we are passionate about and what we have been elected for: to argue, debate, create opinion, negotiate, vote on proposals and make decisions for Sweden.

We in this chamber may have different opinions on political issues and when it comes to values and ways of acting, but we are also all elected members.

With the expectations that party friends, voters, and the surrounding society have of us, and with the performance requirements, the working hours, and the travel that the assignment demands, it is a tough task. In that regard, we are all the same. However fun and engaging the work in the Riksdag building here in Stockholm is, I believe we all have a bit of homesickness right now anyway.

On behalf of all members, I wish the Speaker, the Deputy Speakers, and the entire Riksdag Administration with all staff a very peaceful Christmas holiday. May you sleep well, eat well, read well, and have a good time.

As tradition now dictates, I also conclude this time with a self-composed poem. May God and this assembly also this time forgive me for the forced rhymes.

From all of us to you, dear Speaker!

Now a thousand plenitimmari breathe the chamber's great hall stands I again and rhyme and thank speaker with speech

For across town and country, in today's speech, the Speaker's joyful message we are sent home from our Riksdag to homes in Christmas attire.

We stars are in the chamber debating, heatedly fighting, at home there are no speeches and no speaking time

No, member, we are only out there, father, wife or turn, we can be who we are, he, she, they.

I warm the hearth and tenderly we contribute in our corner Then we take out that which we hid January agreement part two

I'm just joking, but no one knows what the spring's battleground will be, it's a long way off - actually, an eternity now, I wish for Christmas peace.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)