Swedish result was bad but could have been worse

Mark Valladares writes on Liberal Democrat Voice:

In yesterday’s Swedish election, the far-right Sweden Democrats didn’t do as well as was feared. They still did far too well, but at least our two sister parties, Centerpartiet and Liberalerna, both increased their share of the vote. They have both made it clear that no coalition that might include the Sweden Democrats would be acceptable to them, which is promising, and they will doubtless play a critical role in whatever coalition government that emerges.

That should act as a reminder that our liberal sister parties have not a little influence over Brexit. There are seven liberal prime ministers (Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands), and their willingness to countenance a withdrawal of Article 50 should not be taken for granted.

Will the pattern continue into next year's European Parliament elections? If so, because of proportionality, Sweden will add only slightly to the reactionary bloc in Brussels (and Strasbourg).