It now seems likely that Sweden will be the only EU member not to have immigration controls [Swedish] in place when 10 new members join the union May 1Yes, May 1, day of international labor solidarity, when workers of the world, er, unite.. This excellent outcome is not due to enlightened government action, however: the Social Democrats and Folkpartiet did not want to budge on their respective versions of restrictions, while the remaining parties were against either proposal. No proposal has a parliamentary majority, so nothing happens.

Prime Minister Persson says he will consider tabling other measures later this summer or fall. Of course, by then, we will see two things happening: 1) There will be no “social tourists” (though the few that do make it will be amply covered by the press); 2) Those immigrants that do come will be a wave of the most-motivated and hardest-working Eastern Europeans there are, and Sweden will have them all to itself. It is a brilliant policy, and nobody can even take credit for it.