There are moments when, as a Swede living in Bulgaria, I realize just how far Sweden has fallen without fully noticing it ourselves. It happens every time someone here asks about my home country and I choose to answer honestly. When I explain how drained Sweden has become—socially, institutionally, morally—I always get the same reaction: genuine surprise.
For Bulgarians, Sweden is still the dreamland they grew up hearing about during the communist years. They carry a decades-old image in their minds: Sweden was the place where everything worked, where crime was almost nonexistent, where the state was strong, fair, and benevolent. A distant utopia that stood in sharp contrast to their own reality behind the Iron Curtain.
So when I describe the Sweden of today, something shifts in their faces. A quiet calculation. A kind of disbelief—sometimes even sadness.
And that reaction came to mind immediately when I read Donald Trump’s latest statement about Sweden.
Trump: “It’s unbelievable”
Trump continues to use Sweden as a cautionary tale. In his interview with Politico, he says:
“Look at Sweden, which used to be the safest country in Europe and the world. Now it’s a very unsafe country. It’s unbelievable.”
It’s hard to read that without feeling a mix of irritation and resignation. Irritation because it’s Trump. Resignation because, although exaggerated, his words strike a nerve in a country already wrestling with its own self-image.
He adds:
“I’m not criticizing Sweden. I love Sweden. I love the Swedish people. But they went from a country without crime to a country with a lot of crime today.”
And this is where Bulgarians usually look at me, waiting for me to deny it. But I can’t—not anymore.
Not when the numbers look the way they do.
Not when the public mood is what it is.
Not when everyday life has changed so clearly.
Bulgarians still believe in the old Sweden – and it clashes with my reality
The Sweden Bulgarians grew up admiring was shaped by their own political context. Under communism, Sweden symbolized everything they lacked:
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freedom of speech
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effective institutions
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reliable welfare
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minimal crime
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social stability
When I explain how Sweden has developed over the past 10–15 years, their first reaction is laughter—not because it’s funny, but because it sounds impossible. A Sweden with gang violence, bombings, insecurity? No, that doesn’t fit their story.
“You Swedes have always been perfect,” they say. “We were the ones meant to learn from you.”
But when I show them statistics from Sweden’s National Safety Survey (NTU), the laughter stops.
Swedes themselves are worried – more than ever before
Today, 54 percent of Swedes say they worry about crime in society.
In 2014, the figure was 28 percent.
The concern has almost doubled in just a decade.
When I tell Bulgarians this, they shake their heads—not because they doubt it, but because they never imagined Sweden would end up facing the same issues they struggled with for years.
What’s even more striking is that Swedes aren’t necessarily afraid of being personally attacked. The fear is broader: a worry about the direction of society.
A fear Bulgarians recognize all too well.
“But how could Sweden end up like this?” they ask
This is the hardest question, because there is no single answer. I can’t say it’s only about migration. I can’t say it’s only about political mistakes. I can’t say it’s only about gangs, shootings, or police resources.
It’s about a social contract quietly cracking.
And when I explain this, Bulgarians nod knowingly. They’ve lived through systems that decayed—not suddenly, but gradually, through loss of trust. When I say that Swedes now doubt the ability of the police, the courts, and the state to protect them, Bulgarians respond with a sentence that hits hardest:
“You Swedes are starting to sound like we did in the 1990s.”
That sentence feels like a punch to the chest.
The image of Sweden was never just an image – it was a dream
For people living behind the Iron Curtain, Sweden represented hope. A place that proved another kind of society was possible. Many Bulgarians describe it almost like a fairy tale:
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the world’s best schools
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the safest streets
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the most advanced welfare system
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the freest citizens
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the most modern society
When they tell me this, I can almost feel the admiration they carried through their childhood.
That’s why Sweden’s current struggles feel like a betrayal—not only to Swedes but to the people who held us up as proof that a better world could exist.
Trump creates headlines – but the real story is in Swedish hearts
It’s easy to dismiss Trump’s comments as political theater. But NTU reveals something far more important: Swedes themselves no longer feel confident in the social stability they once took for granted.
This is what captures Bulgarians’ attention—not Trump, but the fact that Swedes agree with him far more than they used to.
A society shifts when trust shifts
It’s not only the rise in crime that matters. It’s the atmosphere:
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people avoid certain neighborhoods
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parents worry in new ways
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older people feel less protected
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faith in the state weakens
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the tone of public life becomes harsher
When I describe this, Bulgarians say it sounds like a society in transition. A country that has lost its footing but hasn’t yet decided which direction to take.
“We thought Sweden would always be stable”
That’s what Bulgarians tell me again and again.
They believed Sweden was unshakeable.
But when I talk about explosions, shootings, gang wars, and political paralysis, they realize that no country is immune—not even Sweden.
The question I get most often
When I finish describing the situation, Bulgarians always ask:
“Why didn’t Swedes react sooner?”
And that is a question we Swedes must confront.
We assumed safety was automatic.
We believed stability was permanent.
We trusted the system long after the cracks had become visible.
It is only when the outside world—Trump, global media, Europe—points at us that we reluctantly begin to look inward.
But when a Bulgarian asks me directly, there’s no room for denial.
I have to answer.
And the truth I keep coming back to is this:
Sweden thought safety was guaranteed.
But safety is never guaranteed.
The conclusion: when two worldviews collide
When I speak with Bulgarians, I see two versions of Sweden collide:
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their version: a dream, a northern paradise, a model society
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my version: a country struggling to find its way back to itself
The contrast is enormous.
And sometimes I wonder if their shock mirrors our own.
Because if people who lived through communism, corruption, and collapse cannot understand how Sweden ended up here—then maybe we Swedes truly underestimated how fragile our success always was.
Safety doesn’t disappear overnight.
It erodes, millimeter by millimeter.
And perhaps we need to look at Sweden through Bulgarian eyes to understand what we have lost—and what we must rebuild.
By Chris...
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