Sweden’s king ‘touched’ by EU refugee crisis

Sweden's King Carl XVI opened the annual parliament session on 15 September 2015 with a speech focused on the refugee crisis hitting Europe. The King stated he was emotionally touched by the tragedy of thousands of people seeking protection.

Earlier, prime minister Stefan Löfven had also advocated for the European Union to do more and to host larger number of migrants. Sweden has been seen as one of the most keen countries in receiving refugees, as opposed to its neighbour Denmark.

The Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket) reported on the 20 September 2015 that 6,400 refugees had sought asylum in Sweden in the previous week, a record number of applicants.

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