Strandhäll dares to be interviewed by everyone – except Samnytt and Riks

Social Democrat Annika Strandhäll criticizes the Tidö coalition leaders and describes their decision to decline interviews with Dagens Nyheter as “childish” and “anti-democratic nonsense” in a setting where a Social Democrat sympathizer leads the questioning. At the same time, Strandhäll emphasizes that she herself takes interviews even with journalists who do not share her political views. But when Samnytt contacts her with an interview request, there is silence.

The leaders of the Tidö parties—Ebba Busch (Christian Democrats), Jimmie Åkesson (Sweden Democrats), and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (Moderates)—have chosen not to participate in Dagens Nyheter’s new interview initiative ahead of the election.

– It is because we have no confidence in DN’s or Edvin’s ability to conduct these interviews objectively, fairly, and impartially, says SD’s press chief Oskar Cavalli-Björkman to Expressen.

This concerns podcast personality Edvin Törnblom, who will interview the party leaders in the series. He has previously described Magdalena Andersson as his “favorite prime minister,” which has received a lot of attention in recent days as he is now set to question several party leaders in an election-focused interview initiative.

Jag har noterat diskussionen om redaktioners objektivitet och neutralitet, mellan journalister. Inför valet vill DN låta en ny reporter intervjua statsministern – Edvin Törnblom. Lägger en video med honom och Magdalena Andersson (S) här. För en upplyst värld? pic.twitter.com/yAr2JygC9K

— Hanna Strömberg (@hannastromberg) April 22, 2026

The Moderates have also criticized Dagens Nyheter, focusing on a lack of transparency. According to the party, DN should have been clearer about the political positions Edvin Törnblom has previously expressed in relation to the interview initiative, and this is one reason they have declined participation.

The red-green party leaders are participating in the questioning, and even the Liberals’ party leader Simona Mohamsson has accepted.

“Anti-democratic nonsense”

Since then, Annika Strandhäll (Social Democrats), in a thread on X, has criticized the Tidö party leaders and described their actions as “incredibly childish.”

She also points out that Dagens Nyheter is a liberal newspaper and not a left-wing paper, despite the program’s interview format being led by a person perceived as having Social Democrat sympathies.

Strandhäll has also emphasized that she does not reject interviews with any media solely because of a journalist’s political affiliations. She described such behavior as “anti-democratic nonsense” when attacking the leaders of the Tidö parties.

But after that, Strandhäll states that she indeed does not agree to interviews with Samnytt or Riks. On Thursday morning, Samnytt replied in the same thread, referring to her own statements about “anti-democratic nonsense” and sent an interview request for the coming week.

Since then there has been silence in the thread.