Setback for EU migration plans as Sweden assumes bloc’s presidency

Swedish government thought to be reluctant to alienate far-right Sweden Democrats

Hopes of a breakthrough in EU policy on migration have receded as Sweden's government - supported by the far right for the first time - takes charge of the bloc's rotating presidency on 1 January.

The EU has been deadlocked over plans to share the management of asylum seekers since the arrival of 1.3 million refugees in 2015 triggered a political crisis. The latest proposals, dating from September 2020, abandoned the idea of mandatory refugee quotas for member states, but they have been making slow progress through the EU council of ministers, the key decision-making chamber.