Anna-Karin Hatt, leader of Sweden's Centre Party, has resigned after just five months in the role, citing an unbearable number of threats and harassment. In her resignation speech, she referred to clear physical threats that went beyond online trolling, stating she no longer felt safe in her own home or in public spaces.
Hatt's departure follows that of her predecessor, Annie Lööf, who left the party leadership in 2022 for the same reasons: extremist hate, neo-Nazi threats, and online trolls. Lööf had been the target of a planned murder by a man who was later convicted of killing another politician at a political festival. Lööf described receiving death threats, empty bullet casings in her mailbox, and Nazis outside her home.
The resignations highlight a pattern of women being driven out of public life in Sweden by unconstrained hate groups and far-right extremism. Amandah Andersson, policy chief at the Centre Party's women's organisation, noted that Hatt inherited a hostile online environment originally directed at Lööf, and that women face a greater risk of harsh threats and hatred.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson dismissed Hatt's concerns, suggesting she should be more 'thick skinned'. This response has been criticised as implying that death threats and stalking must be accepted as part of public life, which could deter women, immigrants, and minorities from seeking public office.
The threats are largely linked to the Centre Party's liberal views on immigration and its refusal to govern with the far-right Sweden Democrats. An investigation by Swedish TV4 revealed that the Sweden Democrats operated a network of anonymous social media accounts that spread hate and disinformation against political opponents.
