Swedish political tensions rise over Sami land rights and mineral exploitation

For the Swedish-Sami politician Åsa Larsson Blind, it was something of a watershed moment in the national conversation around Indigenous rights.

In late April and May, as the country geared up for this month’s elections, the deputy prime minister and energy minister, Ebba Busch, gave a series of speeches and articles publicly attacking the Sami’s rights to graze reindeer herds on their ancestral lands. Reindeer husbandry, Busch said at one press conference, “is an industry that affects very large areas, but has limited economic significance”.

Her Christian Democrats party, a junior partner in Sweden’s three-party centre-right coalition government, called for reindeer numbers to be cut, for reindeer husbandry to no longer be considered a “national interest” and for the state to “reclaim responsibility” for land used by herders.

The government’s goal is to open up the country’s sparsely populated north for mineral resource exploitation – as Sweden and the EU more generally seek to reduce dependence on Chinese imports – and to expand its nuclear power capabilities.

Larsson Blind said that anti-Sami sentiment in the run-up to elections – especially at the local level – was not new, but that the scope of the recent rhetoric was “quite astonishing”.

“If you look at it from afar, it means that the deputy prime minister is highlighting one group of people … as being the enemy of development in Sweden,” the board member of the Sami parliament, which exists to safeguard Sami interests, said in an interview. “She is really clearly not feeling the need to have the support of the Sami.”

Issues of Sami land rights have moved from local to national prominence in the run-up to the 13 September vote. In its manifesto, the Christian Democrats pledged to “resolve the conflicts between reindeer husbandry and industrial development” and to protect “everyone’s right to hunt on state-owned land”. The far-right Sweden Democrats – who could enter government for the first time after the vote – have also singled out reindeer herders in their manifesto, pitting them against industrial development, tourism and the wider Swedish public and questioning their land rights.

The row has centred on the state-owned mining company LKAB’s plan to expand a vast iron ore mine next to the town of Kiruna to encompass the Per Geijer deposit, which holds Europe’s largest known reserve of rare-earth elements. The plan involves relocating subsidence-hit Kiruna itself to a new and more stable site. Last summer, the town drew global attention when its striking red wooden church, designed to resemble a lávvu (a Sami hut), was rolled 5km to its new home.

Many among the Sami population near Kiruna – Sweden’s most northerly town – fear the pitting of mineral resources against land rights heralds a larger threat to their livelihoods and culture.

The traditional herding routes of the Gabna Sami people have already been significantly affected by the Kiruna mine. Anna-Karin Niia, a Gabna herder, said she felt ignored by Stockholm. The Sami people are Indigenous “constitutional protectors”, she said. “It’s not just a simple matter of quietly reducing reindeer herds and making these kinds of statements so that you win the 2026 election.”

“Even if the state or the government or the EU says it is important to have minerals, at the same time, Indigenous rights, Sami rights, the local[s] are just as important. We also need nature.”

For Larsson Blind, the government’s positioning has shattered hopes that Swedish politicians might take their responsibilities seriously when it comes to Sami people. “It is very harsh but I think it has also opened eyes in our own ranks. It has really opened up a divide that is very hard to overcome,” she said. “Even if we have known that previous governments haven’t prioritised Sami rights issues, it hasn’t been politically correct to say it so abruptly and out loud. But now it is possible to do that, so the boundaries have been pushed.”

Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen, the head of the Gabna community, said LKAB’s plans for Per Geijer would “put an end to everything” for the Sami, because it would cut off the connection between the calving grounds and the mountain area and forest region. He also believes it would act as a “starting gun” for increased industrialisation across Sweden. “It will affect all Sami villages,” he said. “We feel like we have a lot resting on our shoulders.”

Over coffee at his home in Kiruna, Nils-Johan Labba, a master craftsman and politician in the Sami parliament, said the relocation of Kiruna had left the town “bleeding”, affecting everything from transport to education. He said he wished the government had focused on resolving the town’s problems instead of “hating on minorities”.

Peter Kullgren, a member of the board of the Christian Democrats, said: “Sweden has a responsibility to protect Sami rights, but the government must also be able to weigh up Sami rights with other very strong public interests. Our mineral resources are strategically important for Sweden and Europe and we already have high standards of consideration, dialogue and influence but the state must also be able to make decisions about when important public interests are working against each other.”

In a statement, LKAB said the process of expanding the Kiruna mine was still at an early stage. “Our intention is to continue evaluating the potential of the mineral deposit,” it said. “The application is currently being reviewed by the mining inspectorate of Sweden, and the consultation process is ongoing.

“We understand that our plans for the new deposit would have an impact … We have submitted a reindeer herding impact assessment that includes proposed measures intended to support the conditions for continued reindeer herding in the area.

“Our starting point is not to dismiss the concerns that have been raised, but to work toward solutions that can reduce impacts and create the conditions for safeguarding both interests over the long term.”