Margot Wallstrom is coming back to Sweden’s political scene with a very unpopular reminder "Sweden ought to have joined the euro”.

Sunday, 03 June 2012

EU Commissioner Margot Wallström, is ready to accept new assignments within the Social Democrats. But her coming back to the Swedish political scene should not be graced with the pledge that Sweden should have joined the Euro. This is not what people would love to hear now when the Social Democrats are doing well in the polls.

Wallström, former EU Commissioner and since 2010, the United Nations representative responsible for sexual violence in conflict areas, has often been tipped to become Social Democrat’s next party leader. She thinks that the crisis in the Social Democratic Party was "sad to see" and call on current leader, Stefan Löfven not to put too much importance on opinion polls.

Margot Wallstrom feel that the EMU referendum campaign in 2003 which she was one of the driver calling for Sweden to join has turned out to be a bad joke given the recent deep crisis for the single currency. She regrets her involvement in favour of Sweden joining the euro, according to her talks with Swedish television in the new interview.
“No, because I think the reasons were valid and relevant and is still relevant,” says Wallström in an interview on Swedish television. Wallstrom still think Sweden should have joined the euro.
“Yes, as it appeared at that time. One can say in hindsight and say that we would have done in a completely different way, but the arguments put forward were highly relevant and valid today as well.”
The basic idea of the monitory union was not a bad one and there are countries that are doing well because they followed the rules, according to Wallström. The countries that are suffering heaping more problems on the currency are as a result of those countries falling to keep to the rule as was expected.

She argues that as the commissioner she was very critical that Greece was included in the euro family in 2000, because there were already many warning signs in the economy.
Euro crisis has made them who represented the nay-sayers in the 2003 referendum to today believe that the developments in Europe have proved that they were right.

“We can of course bitching about forever, but it leads nowhere. Now we have to look at what we have learned from this and solve the problems we have today,” said Wallström.

She added that she basically have a strong political commitment and interest which is still there after spending several years on the road doing international duties. Wallstrom was the EU commissioner for nearly eleven years and has the last two years working as a UN Special Representative on matters relating to sexual violence in conflict.

When the Social Democrats have changed the party leaders in recent times, she had always topped the list among both voters and party members as a possible choice. She had rejected something she attributed to being away from the Swedish domestic politics for a long time.
By Scancomark,se Team