In the first of The Local's election interviews with the immigration spokespeople of Sweden's political parties, the Sweden Democrats' Ludvig Aspling downplays the impacts of new s…

In the first of The Local's election interviews with the immigration spokespeople of Sweden's political parties, the Sweden Democrats' Ludvig Aspling downplays the impacts of new stricter work permit and citizenship rules on skilled labour migrants, and outlines his party's plans for the next mandate period. When The Local tells Sweden Democrat migration spokesman Ludvig Aspling that software workers and other highly skilled employees at some of Sweden’s top companies frequently tell us they are considering leaving Sweden because of the stricter citizenship rules and other migration reforms his party has driven through ((such as here, here and here), he is unmoved. “If the reason that you came here to work is because of the very, very relaxed rules for citizenship, then I don’t really want you to come here,” he tells The Local bluntly. "I want you to come here for the career or for the money, or to have a reasonable life with your kids. I don't want you to choose this country because we have no language test for citizenship – because then you're here for the wrong reason." In the first of The Local’s election interviews with the migration spokespeople of Sweden’s parliamentary parties, Aspling claims the Sweden Democrats have achieved “exactly 80 percent” of the migration policies they set out to implement during this mandate period, defends the government’s most controversial reforms, and sets out his priorities if the right wins September’s election. Migration Minister Johan Forssell has long argued that his government aims to encourage more highly skilled workers to come to Sweden, with its immigration crackdown squarely aimed at asylum seekers and low-skilled workers. But employers in Sweden’s technology sector are increasingly warning that tighter migration and citizenship rules are in fact making the country less attractive to international talent. He argues it is "completely ridiculous" to suggest that a highly skilled senior programmer might be negatively affected by the decision to tighten citizenship rules without transitional arrangements, or indeed by any other of the government's reforms to work permits or residency. "If you have that type of high-paying, very successful job, you're head of software development for a major corporation, why would you care about the citizenship rule?" he says. "You can move to any country you want."