Sweden has been in the spotlight internationally during the last week, and not in a positive sense. It all started when Donald Trump made confusing remarks about the country in a speech last friday.
Following the speech, international media outlets have reported on crime issues and riots in Sweden. Various claims of negative nature and with varying accuracy have also circulated in social media. High-ranking politicians from the far-right Sweden Democrat party have since defended Trump's remarks in a opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal.
To counter these rumors and sometimes outright false claims, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has now released a fact sheet on migration, crime and other issues.
"In recent times, simplistic and occasionally completely inaccurate information about Sweden and Swedish migration policy has been disseminated", the government body writes.
The fact sheet effectively dismantles rumors on the "increase in gun violence in Sweden", as well as claims that "the system in Sweden is on the verge of collapse" due to high immigration:
"The Swedish economy is strong. Despite the high costs of immigration, Sweden recorded a public finance surplus in 2015, and the forecasts indicate that the surplus is set to grow until 2020.
Moreover, Sweden has had one of the highest rates of growth in Europe over the last two years. Youth unemployment has declined considerably and is now at its lowest level in the past 13 years, and long-term unemployment (12 months or longer) is the lowest in the EU", the fact sheet states among other things.