Acknowledgements and closing
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the conclusion of the parliamentary work before the Christmas break and the introduction of the election year 2026. The Speaker 1 expresses hope for a sensible and objective election debate where differences between the parties are clarified respectfully. He emphasizes the importance of international relations, particularly Nordic cooperation and support for Ukraine 1. He highlights the need for increased security in the Riksdag and presents plans for digital services, AI opportunities, and renovations 1. S thanks the staff in the Riksdag Administration and the Speaker for their work 2. S also wishes the members a well-deserved Christmas break 2.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
TALMANNEN
Honorable members! Today marks the conclusion in the chamber before the Riksdag's Christmas break, even though there will also be interpellation debates tomorrow.
When we gather here today, we are therefore on the eve of the election year 2026. In almost exactly nine months, election day falls, this special day in our democracy when the air is charged with tension, when everything is to be decided, when everything is at stake.
Ahead of the coming year, my hope is that we will have a sensible, objective, and serious election debate, a debate that straight and honestly clarifies the differences between the parties in a respectful tone. On Wednesday, January 14, the first party leader debate of the election year will be held here in the Riksdag. For the first time, a party leader debate in the Riksdag will take place in the evening, and it will be broadcast on SVT so that more voters can follow a Riksdag party leader debate in a live broadcast.
For me personally, the election year means that I am entering the final stretch of my eighth year as Speaker of the Riksdag, and I would like to say that I am just as humbly grateful for the trust as I was when I first took office. My ambition is to continue to be the Speaker of the entire Riksdag, and I look forward to continuing to work in close cooperation with the Deputy Speakers, the group leaders, and all of you members. I am always ready to receive views and questions from each and every one of you.
Honorable members! We live in a time when international relations have become increasingly important. During the autumn, we have held two major international meetings in the Riksdag: the Nordic Council's annual session and the fourth international Speaker's meeting within the framework of the Crimea Platform.
Both of these arrangements have been organized in a very meritorious way by the Riksdag's International Office, but they have also required extensive efforts from staff from all other parts of the Riksdag Administration. I would like to extend a warm thank you to everyone who contributed to making both of these important meetings very successful. A big thank you also to all members who have been involved in these meetings.
The Nordic Council's session reminded us that Nordic cooperation may never have been so close and so important as it is now. The Crimea Platform's parliamentary summit was conducted by the Riksdag together with Ukraine's parliament and gathered nearly 70 delegations here on-site or digitally from all continents in support of Ukraine. It sent an important signal in a decisive time.
Honorable members! During the past year, security both inside and outside the Riksdag has been an important issue. We need to strengthen our ability to protect an open Riksdag and increase the safety for the members of the Riksdag, not least now ahead of the election year. We do this through closer cooperation with the authorities ultimately responsible for the security of the members as well as for order and security at the Riksdag. And we do this by developing the Riksdag's own security work when it concerns the members, the Riksdag's premises, and the overnight accommodations.
Some time ago, the Inquiry on Publicity and Security in the Chamber submitted its final report. It contains proposals with the aim of providing the Riksdag with better conditions to handle disruptions of order and security-related threats in the Chamber. Now, the proposals are to be prepared.
The new security situation also requires that we increase our readiness and ensure our ability to maintain the parliamentary process during incidents, in crises, in war and in the face of war. For that purpose, we have, for example, carried out activities during the readiness week and practiced with the war delegation.
Honourable members! A week ago, the Committee on the Constitution decided on the Riksdag Administration's operational plan for 2026. It contains a long series of concrete measures to provide you with the best possible conditions to carry out your important mandate. The Administration's work with the members in focus is based, among other things, on the handling of the 2023 parliamentary inquiry. During the year, I have met with the Administration's departments and highlighted the importance of work based on the members' conditions to carry out the parliamentary mandate.
Let me give some examples of planned development activities during the next year.
The renovation of the Cephalus block continues. The level of ambition for the members' overnight accommodations is being raised through, among other things, continued renovation efforts.
The work to provide effective digital services that are easy to access and use continues. During 2026, a new platform for digital collaboration will be introduced. New solutions for the digital submission of motions with digital signatures shall be implemented, and the Riksdagsförvaltningen shall create the conditions to take advantage of the opportunities that AI provides.
Preparations are also beginning to arrange a studio for recording podcasts and content for social media. The plan is for the studio to be on-site by 2027. This is one of many measures that have their basis in the parliamentary committee's report.
The support for you members in connection with you organizing meetings and conferences in the Riksdag shall increase. The support shall also be improved when booking certain trips in the service, and we will once again have travel agency employees on site in the Riksdag.
Let me also mention something that you may have already noticed, namely the fine new exhibition Laws that build the country, located exactly where one enters the building from the public entrance. It is a collaboration between the Riksdag and the National Archives, and it aims to highlight important documents from our parliamentary history.
Honorable members! Three people who are here today have completed their parliamentary duties. I would therefore like to turn directly to you with a big and warm thank you for your efforts in the service of democracy.
To be an elected member of the Riksdag is one of the finest assignments one can receive in our democracy. With the voters' trust behind you, you represent them, your party, and your constituency.
For the work here in the heart of democracy, you will now be thanked. I ask you to stand up when you hear your name.
The Riksdag's Gold Needle and Diploma are awarded to Märta Stenevi. You were elected to the Riksdag in 2022 as a representative for Miljöpartiet and Stockholm County. You are, of course, best known as Miljöpartiet's spokesperson as well as the Minister for Equality and Housing, but during your time in the Riksdag, you have been a member of the Committee on Civil Affairs, the Committee on Social Insurance, and the War Delegation. You have previously also been a regional councillor in Skåne, a municipal councillor in Malmö, and a party secretary.
Now you have left the Riksdag. Many of us here will remember your commitment to equality, the climate, and much more. I personally remember especially our conversations during the last government formation process in the autumn of 2022.
Warm thanks to you for your efforts for the Riksdag, for democracy and for Sweden!
The Riksdag medal of the eighth size is awarded to Acko Ankarberg Johansson, who unfortunately cannot be here today. She was elected to the Riksdag in 2018 as a representative for Kristdemokraterna and Jönköpings län. She has always been passionate about social issues, including healthcare issues, and during her time in the Riksdag, she was chair of the Committee on Social Affairs. She has also been Minister for Health and Social Affairs and party secretary, as well as chair of the municipal executive board in Jönköping. Since November, she has been County Governor in Västmanlands län.
I would like to extend a warm thank you to her for her efforts for the Riksdag, for democracy, and for Sweden!
The Riksdag medal of the twelfth size is awarded to Johan Hultberg. You were elected to the Riksdag in 2010 as a representative for M and Kronobergs län, but you have achieved something that few here have accomplished. You moved to another constituency, namely Västra Götalands läns norra – or Fyrbodal, as I understand you call it at home – and you succeeded in being elected from there as well.
During your time here, you have been involved in both environmental issues and social issues, and you have been a member of the Committee on Environment and Agriculture, the Committee on Social Affairs, the EU Committee, the Riksdag's delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and the Swedish delegation to the Nordic Council.
Much has happened during your 15 years in the Riksdag. You have not only experienced this development, but you have also been part of shaping it.
Warm thanks to you for your efforts for the Riksdag, for democracy and for Sweden!
The Riksdag medal of the twelfth size is also awarded to Johan Pehrson. You were elected to the Riksdag as early as 1998 as a representative for Folkpartiet and Örebro län. You are, of course, best known as the party leader for Liberalerna as well as Minister for Employment and Integration and Minister for Education.
During your time in the Riksdag, you were chairman of the Committee on Justice as well as a member of several other committees as well as in the Riksdag Board, the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the War Delegation. You have also been group leader for the Liberals.
During your time as group leader, we had quite a bit to do with one another, and when you were party leader, I had the pleasure of offering you tomatoes during the last Speaker's round in the autumn of 2022.
With your humor and spontaneity, you have contributed to the good atmosphere in our elected assembly – but your actions have also been characterized by great commitment and great seriousness.
Thank you very much for your efforts for the Riksdag, for democracy, and for Sweden!
Now your time in the Swedish Riksdag is over. I hope that from your years here in the Riksdag you carry with you many fine memories of intense work in this fantastic house, which in itself symbolizes our democracy but also contains so much of the dynamics, negotiations, and other processes that all ultimately aim to make our country better. With commitment, expertise, and hard work, you have contributed to shaping our country and our present, but also our future.
Parliamentary work is carried out together with others, but every member puts their own mark on their mandate. What you specifically have done could no one else have done. Your initiatives, your choices and your priorities are uniquely yours.
Once again: A warm thank you to you for everything you have done for the Riksdag and for Sweden!
Honorable members! I would now like to conclude by thanking each and every one of you for the work you have put in during the year for the Riksdag and for Sweden. I also want to extend a warm thank you to the Speaker's Presidium, the group leaders, the committees' presidia, the international delegations' presidia, and the members of the Riksdag Board for good cooperation.
I also want to say a warm thank you to the Director-General of the Riksdag and all the employees in the Riksdag Administration. I know that during the spring, for example, you will have a lot to do with the preparations for the election and the introduction of the new members we will welcome after the election.
The upcoming weekends are a reminder that we are soon heading towards brighter times. Even in a dark time, there are glimmers of light, something that Stig Dagerman captured in one of his daily verses:
The first snow is whiter than all that the wind drifts. One morning the earth lies sprinkled with white letters.
The text provided appears to be nonsensical or contains significant typographical errors in Swedish, making it impossible to translate into a coherent English sentence while remaining faithful to the original.
But all letters shall be broken. Let every question receive its answer. And the wolf's path shall be read by those who have eyes.
And man's tracks shall show the brother where he dwells, for none is so alone as he who thinks of autumn.
With these words, I wish you all a well-deserved holiday, a very Merry Christmas, and eventually a Happy New Year.
Anders Ygeman (S)
Mr. Speaker! On behalf of all members, I would like to thank all the staff of the Riksdag Administration who, whether they are writing minutes or serving food, guarding, cleaning or renovating the Riksdag, contribute to a functioning democracy.
I would like to thank the Director-General of the Riksdag and, here at Christmas time, the three Deputy Speakers. And of course: A big thank you to the Speaker!
We have now experienced the darkest December month since 1934, but as the theologian Thomas Fuller wrote already in 1650: It is darkest before the dawn.
After all the bills, interpellations, motions and simple questions, a well-deserved Christmas break now awaits. I thought I would send along a few stanzas that Thåström sings in Solen i den vänstra:
Sell the furniture, throw away the phone Tell the others that you don't have time Wrap the blanket tightly around yourself Soon the first water holes will come
Like a warm embrace you have forgotten Like a path you just happened to take one evening Like something you have hardly even dared to dream of You can believe me if you want
With those words, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.