Sweden's deputy PM attacks Sami rights to mine rare earths — SkimNews
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Ebba Busch, Sweden's deputy PM and energy minister, gave speeches and articles in April–May calling Sami reindeer husbandry an industry with "limited economic significance" that "affects very large areas"
- Sweden's Christian Democrats called for cutting reindeer herd numbers, stripping reindeer husbandry of its "national interest" designation, and "reclaiming" state land to open the north for mineral extraction and nuclear expansion
- The dispute centers on state-owned LKAB's plan to expand the Kiruna iron ore mine to encompass the Per Geijer deposit, which holds Europe's largest known reserve of rare-earth elements
- Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen, head of the Gabna Sami community, warned the expansion would "put an end to everything" by severing calving grounds from the mountain and forest region and acting as a "starting gun" for broader industrialisation
- The far-right Sweden Democrats — who could enter government after the 13 September vote — also singled out reindeer herders in their manifesto, pitting them against industrial development, tourism and the wider Swedish public
- LKAB said its application is still in early-stage review by Sweden's mining inspectorate and that it has submitted a reindeer-herding impact assessment with proposed mitigation measures
Why it matters: Both a governing party and the Sweden Democrats have made opposing Sami land use an electoral plank ahead of Sweden's 13 September vote, aligning the political mainstream behind industrial development over indigenous rights. With LKAB's Per Geijer expansion — Europe's largest known rare-earth reserve — sitting directly on Gabna herding routes, this alignment gives mining interests a clear parliamentary tailwind against Sami objections that previous governments, in Larsson Blind's words, "haven't prioritised".
Ask SkimNews
