[April 23, 2026]

Ebba Busch har rätt om rennäringen.

[machine translation]

Ebba Busch Is Right About Reindeer Herding

The reindeer herding industry has been granted significant privileges by the state. This is unreasonable when it comes at the expense of vital societal interests.

Minister of Enterprise Ebba Busch caused a stir this week when she announced that the Sami people's reindeer herding should no longer be considered a matter of national interest (SvD, April 20). One reason for this is that the Sami have a so–called reindeer herding right, which grants them the right to engage in reindeer herding on others' land, both state–owned and private. Today, reindeer herding takes place on nearly half of Sweden's land area.

In addition to the right to reindeer grazing, the reindeer herding right also includes hunting and fishing, the right to build pastures, fences, slaughterhouses, and other facilities necessary for reindeer herding, as well as the right to harvest timber for construction, fuel, and handicrafts.

The fact that reindeer herding is considered a matter of national interest also means that its needs carry significant weight in social planning—for example, in the construction of new infrastructure, power plants, mines, and roads. According to the Minister of Enterprise, this arrangement is unreasonable.

It is not hard to agree with Ebba Busch. The interests of the reindeer herding industry have become too dominant in relation to other societal interests. At a time when Sweden needs to strengthen development in Norrland–for reasons including national security–this is not a sustainable arrangement.

The reindeer herding industry has been granted an extremely privileged special status with direct government subsidies and far–reaching special legislation. The ideological basis for this is that the Sami are regarded as an indigenous people and that reindeer herding is viewed as a symbol of cultural identity.

From a historical and archaeological perspective, this is only partially true. Sweden was populated from the south as the inland ice sheet melted away. It is rarely possible to determine from archaeological sources who "came first" in different parts of Norrland. It is known that both Swedes and the Sami lived and worked in Norrland from early on. Furthermore, hunting and fishing remained the dominant means of subsistence among the Sami until the late Middle Ages. From this perspective, modern reindeer herding is a relatively recent innovation.

In many ways, it is very strange that we have legislation on this very issue that is based on a kind of "blood and soil" logic, where collective land rights are linked to ethnicity, when this type of thinking is otherwise regarded as far–right extremism. In practice, you must be born into a reindeer–herding Sami family to be able to engage in reindeer herding.

Since the rights of the Sami communities are based on "ancient claim," archaeological interpretations have even been a point of contention in court decisions. Which ethnic group was there first? Which groups have engaged in hunting and fishing in the areas in question throughout history?

In the high–profile case involving the Girjas Sami community, the dispute largely concerned conditions dating back several hundred years. The ruling ultimately granted the community exclusive hunting and fishing rights in a vast area. Other Sami communities have attempted the same, but have not achieved the same success due to the historical evidence available.

Exercising customary rights in this way should be alien to Swedish legal tradition. Furthermore, reindeer–herding Sámi constitute a small minority of the Sami population in Sweden. There are approximately one thousand professional reindeer herders in Sweden. To be a reindeer herder, one must be elected into a Sami community. It is estimated that there are a total of between 20,000 and 40,000 Sami people in the country.

It is therefore unreasonable to equate the reindeer herders' far–reaching special rights with the protection of Sami minority culture, a point also emphasized by Ebba Busch. Under current regulations, the interests of the reindeer herding industry conflict both with the rights of other citizens and with core societal interests. For private individuals, this naturally concerns hunting and fishing, but also tourism, building permits, and forestry. For the state, it is about the fact that opportunities to develop a large part of the country are being hindered.

Busch's proposal is not about abolishing the reindeer herding industry, which is, after all, an asset for Sweden. It is about achieving a more reasonable balance between different interests. Even better would be to do away with the many strange ideological assumptions underlying Sami policy.

Under no other circumstances would anyone think to try to preserve a cultural expression from a historical era through extensive economic policy interventions. For example, we do not keep Swedish peasant culture alive by practicing 19th–century agriculture on large tracts of land, even though it was an integral part of our culture that was shattered by modernity. No other minority is treated that way, for that matter.

The question is not why the Minister of Agriculture is raising this issue now. The question is why no leading politician has done so before? The absurdity of this entire line of reasoning has hardly been a secret. But there has been a widespread fear of putting the public interest first. Although the primary task of politics is to balance different interests—and take responsibility for doing so—we have seen a trend over several decades in which power has shifted to the courts.

Through expanded interpretations of international conventions and minority rights, lawyers have gained increasing influence, often with unreasonable consequences. For a long time, for example, the right to asylum was treated in the same way—as if it were beyond the scope of impact analysis. But politics has consequences, for other individuals or society as a whole. Ebba Busch deserves praise for daring to speak plainly about this.

Source:  GöteborgsPosten

Ebba Busch:  Christian Democrats, "Leader"

Note:  Christian Democrats & Sweden Democrats are very
             fond of Constitutional Democracies—most likely
             with a touch of Globalism.

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To speak the whole truth…

No, GöteborgsPosten, Ebba Busch does not deserve any praise—as a matter of fact, none of you do—at all!

That's OK, many know that by now.

So,

"From a historical and archaeological perspective…"

"In many ways, it is very strange that we have legislation on this very issue that is based on a kind of "blood and soil" logic, where collective land rights are linked to ethnicity…"

In many ways, it is [not] very strange that this issue is being raised at this point in time.

Why?

Why have no one ever raised this issue before?

Why haven't GöteborgsPosten—or anyone else for that matter—ever raised this  issue  "absurdity" before?

Their own words: 'The absurdity of this entire line of reasoning has hardly been a secret.'

There's a first time for everything though, and this is good!

While on [absurd] issues regarding Swedish minorities…

Psst! GöteborgsPosten—or anyone else for that matter— are aware of the minority languages as well.

❦

I'm not of German descent.

Nor am I of Saami descent.

What happened to

✴   ✴   ✴        all        ✴   ✴   ✴

of the indigenous people of Scandinavia?