Hartz concept

The Hartz concept, also known as Hartz reforms or the Hartz plan, is a set of recommendations submitted by a committee on reforms to the German labour market in 2002. Named after the head of the committee, Peter Hartz, these recommendations went on to become part of the German government's "Agenda 2010" series of reforms, known as Hartz I – Hartz IV. The committee devised thirteen "innovation modules", which recommended changes to the German labour market system. These were then gradually put into practice: The measures of Hartz I – III were undertaken between January 1, 2003, and 2004, while Hartz IV was implemented on January 1, 2005.
The "Hartz Committee" was founded on February 22, 2002, by the federal government of Germany led then by Gerhard Schröder. Its official name was "Kommission für moderne Dienstleistungen am Arbeitsmarkt" (Committee for Modern Services in the Labour Market). The 15-member committee was chaired by Peter Hartz, then Volkswagen's personnel director.
Hartz I, II, and III.
Hartz I and II both came into effect on January 1, 2003, aiming at making new types of jobs easier to create, and covered, for example:
Hartz I
Hartz II
Hartz III
Hartz IV.
The fourth stage of the reform was voted in by the "Bundestag" on December 16, 2003 and by the "Bundesrat" on July 9, 2004, to take effect by January 1, 2005.
This part of the reforms brought together the former unemployment benefits for long-term unemployed ('Arbeitslosenhilfe') and the welfare benefits ('Sozialhilfe'), leaving them both at approximately the lower level of the former "Sozialhilfe" (social assistance). The level for a single person was €374 per month (known as the "Regelsatz"). This risen since, reaching €391 per month in 2013. Added to this is the financial assistance with housing and health care. Couples can receive benefits for each partner plus their children.
Prior to 2005, between 12 and 36 months (depending upon the claimant's age and work history) of their full unemployment benefit (60 to 67% of the previous net salary) were followed by the "Arbeitslosenhilfe" (unemployment assistance), amounting to 53 to 57% of the last net salary. Since 2008, eligibility for the full unemployment benefit (renamed "Arbeitslosengeld" in 2005 and commonly referred to as "Arbeitslosengeld I" in everyday German to contrast it with the lower benefits discussed below) has been restricted to 12 months in general, 15 months for those aged 50 or older, 18 months for those 55 or older and 24 months for those 58 or older.
This is now followed by the (usually much lower) "Arbeitslosengeld II" (Hartz IV) benefits if the claimant meets eligibility requirements.
Whether or not a claimant is eligible for "Arbeitslosengeld II" depends on his or her savings, life insurance and the income of spouse or partner. If these assets are below a threshold level, a claimant can get money from the state. The threshold level in July 2008 was €150 for free assets (at least €3,100) and €250 for fixed retirement assets, both calculated per capita and lifetime year. Additionally, every employable individual in a communal household (persons living in and depending on the resources of the claimant), can have one car worth about €7,500 and a self-used house of 130 square meters living space (more if there are other people in the common household).
To receive payments, a claimant must agree to a contract subject to public law. This contract outlines what they are obliged to do to improve their job situation, and when the state is obliged to help. An unemployed person may be required to accept any kind of legal job. This compulsion is restricted by constitutional rights, like freedom of movement, freedom of family, marriage and human dignity. If taking on a specific placement is deemed reasonable by the responsible agency, not applying will result in a reduction or even complete suspension of the appropriate payment.
Within the "Arbeitslosengeld II" schemes, the state covers the health insurance of the unemployed. Until the end of 2010, payments towards the pension scheme of the claimant were also made.
It is possible to earn income from a job and receive "Arbeitslosengeld II" benefits at the same time. Job income is debited from "Arbeitslosengeld II" payments according to a formula that leaves a certain amount of the additional revenue untouched. These revenues are: a certain amount of savings (which increases with age); €100 plus 20 percent of the wage up to €800 plus 10% of the wage up to €1200 (up to €1500 if there are children). Through this mechanism "Arbeitslosengeld II" can be regarded as a sort of minimum wage floor for employees without assets, where the minimum wage is not fully paid by the employer but assured by the state. There are criticisms that this defies competition and leads to a downward spiral in wages and the loss of full-time jobs.
The Hartz IV reform merged the federal level unemployment agency with the local level welfare administration. This facilitated a better, case-oriented approach to helping unemployed people find work and improve their situations. The plan's objective is to reduce caseloads from 400 unemployed persons per agent to not more than 75 (aged 25 or less), or not more than 150 persons over the age of 25. For difficult cases, dedicated case managers may be deployed. Legally, however, the agencies remain separate.
The Hartz IV reforms continue to attract criticism in Germany, despite a considerable reduction in short- and long-term unemployment. This reduction has led to some claims of success for the Hartz reforms. Others say the actual unemployment figures are not comparable because many people work part-time or are not included in the statistics for other reasons, such as the number of children that live in Hartz IV households, which has risen to record numbers.
About 7 million people get Hartz IV benefits, of which 2.2 million are unemployed. The budget is estimated to be 20 bn euro.
The Hartz IV reforms formed one of the main foundations of Germany’s subsequent economic boom.
In April 2018, 55% of the recipients had a migration background. According to the Federal Employment Agency (German: "Bundesagentur für Arbeit") this was due to the migrants lacking either employable skills or knowledge of the language.
In a November 2019 ruling the Federal Constitutional Court prohibited controversial harsh sanctions against benefit recipients. It outlawed complete payment cuts and decided that 30-percent cuts would only be permissible under specific conditions, as such punishments endangered jobseekers' minimum standard of living.
Cultural impact.
Although the official term for long-term unemployment benefits is still "Arbeitslosengeld II", most Germans, even news programmes and politicians in parliament, refer to it as "Hartz IV". The term was voted German Word of the Year 2004 by the Society for the German Language. Earlier, in 2002, the term "Ich-AG" (another Hartz measure, see above) had been chosen as the German Un-Word of the Year by a jury of linguistic scholars.
Meanwhile, "Hartz IV" has become a synonym for the class of non-working poor and is used as a prefix in multiple contexts (e.g. low-brow daytime television programmes are called "Hartz IV TV" by critics).


Susan Travers

Susan Mary Gillian Travers (23 September 1909 – 18 December 2003) was an Englishwoman who served in the French Red Cross as a nurse and ambulance driver during the Second World War. She later became the only woman to be matriculated in the French Foreign Legion, having also served in French Indochina, during the First Indochina War.
Early life.
Travers was born in London and spent her early years in England, the daughter of Francis Eaton Travers, a Royal Navy Admiral, and his wife Eleanor Catherine (née Turnbull).
World War II.
At the outbreak of World War II, Travers joined the French Red Cross as a nurse. Later, she became an ambulance driver with the French Expeditionary Force to Finland in 1940. After the fall of France, she went to London and joined the Free French under de Gaulle. In 1941, she drove a medical doctor of the 1st Free French Division during Operation Exporter in Syria and Lebanon, during which the Allied forces invaded and seized Syria and Lebanon from the Vichy French. She served in the "13e demi-brigade de Légion étrangère" as a driver for the medical officer, where she gained the nickname "La Miss".
The "13e Demi-Brigade" was incorporated into the 1st Brigade of the 1st Free French Division, commanded by Colonel Marie-Pierre Koenig. Travers was assigned as the driver to Koenig. They became lovers.
In May 1942, 1st Free French Brigade was posted at Bir Hakeim, the southern end of British Eighth Army's line at Gazala in Libya. As the Panzer Army Afrika prepared to attack the British line, Koenig ordered all women out of the area. The Axis forces attacked on 26 May, initiating the battle of Gazala. Four German and Italian divisions attacked Bir Hakeim. Not long after, Travers joined a convoy into the rear area, and Koenig allowed her to return to Bir Hakeim, as it seemed the Axis attack had failed. During the next two weeks, the Axis continued to attack, heavily shelling and bombing Bir Hakeim. During the bombardment, a shell tore off the roof of Koenig's car. Travers, aided by a Vietnamese driver, fixed it on the spot immediately.
During the night of 10–11 June, 1st FF Brigade evacuated Bir Hakeim, with Travers driving Koenig's staff car. The column ran into minefields and German machine gun fire. Koenig ordered Travers to drive at the front of the column. Travers stated:
At 10:30 a.m. on 11 June, the column entered British lines. Travers' vehicle had eleven bullet holes, with a shock absorber destroyed and the brakes unserviceable.
Koening was promoted to general, and left the North African theatre for higher command and a reunion with his wife. Travers, driving a self-propelled anti-tank gun, remained with the French Foreign Legion. She later served in the Italian Campaign and the Western Front (in France and Germany), during which she was wounded when she drove over a land mine.
Post-war.
After the war, her military status was regularized. She applied to and was formally enrolled in the "Légion Étrangère", as an "adjudant-chef".
Travers served in Indochina. She married Legion "Adjudant-Chef" Nicolas Schlegelmilch, who had fought at Bir Hakeim with the 13th Demi-Brigade. In retirement, they lived on the outskirts of Paris. The couple are survived by two sons.
She waited for all the other principals in her life story to die before writing it. Then in 2000, aged 91, assisted by Wendy Holden, she wrote her autobiography, "Tomorrow to Be Brave: A Memoir of the Only Woman Ever to Serve in the French Foreign Legion" ().


Dragovit

Dragovit () was a pagan ruler (prince or chief) of the Veleti (; "king of the Wiltzes"). It is thought that Dragovit began his rule c. 740.
Because of their constant hatred and hostility toward the Franks, in the late 8th century, Frankish king Charlemagne organised campaigns against the Veleti, and fellow Slavic tribe of the Linonen. With the aid of Frisian, Obodrite, Saxon and Sorbian reinforcements, Charlemagne managed to cross the Elbe River, advancing toward the Havel River into Veleti territory. Outnumbered, Dragovit, in 789, was forced to pledge loyalty to the Franks and surrender hostages. Among others, Dragovit was also forced to pay a tribute and accept the influence of Christian missionaries among his people.
His capital was a fortification known as "civitas Dragowiti" (City of Dragovit). Its location is hypothesised to be either at Brandenburg an der Havel or Demmin.


Catholic Centre Party (Portugal)

The Catholic Centre Party (, PCC) was a political party in Portugal founded on 8 August 1915 and extinguished on January 1940.
History.
The party was established in Braga on 8 August 1915. It won a single seat in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 1915 parliamentary elections. The 1918 elections were boycotted by the three largest parties, and saw the PCC win five House seats and retain its seat in the Senate. The party was reduced back to a single seat in both chambers in the 1919 elections, but won three seats in both chambers in the 1921 elections. Although it was reduced to a single Senate seat in the 1922 elections, the PCC won five seats in the House. The 1925 elections saw the party retain its Senate seat and win four seats in the House.
After the 28 May 1926 coup d'état, the CCP's direction recommended the vote on the National Union and many of its members were invited by António de Oliveira Salazar to become part of the National Union. The CCP would have no presence in Parliament after the coup, despite not being extinguished. Instead, the CCP would then serve to provide juridic and administrative assistance to the clergy and other catholic corporations. On 7 February 1934, António Lino Neto (who had been president since 1919), would resign from the party after a letter from Pope Pius XI recognized another catholic association, a Acção Católica Portuguesa. The party would be officially extinguished by the episcopacy on January 1940, in the context of the 1940 Concordat between Portugal and the Holy See.


Edward Ashton (colonel)

Edward Ashton (died 1658) was a royalist colonel in the English army.
Ashton was deeply implicated in the plot against the Lord Protector set on foot by Ormond and other agents of Charles II in 1658, and for complicity in which Sir Henry Slingsby and John Hewet were executed. Ashton's part was to set fire to the city, throw open all the prisons, and seize all moneys and plate at the goldsmiths', but it was to be 'death for any to touch any man's private goods.'
He was tried with six of his fellow-conspirators before the commissioners of the High Court of Justice, was found guilty, and on 7 July 1658 was hanged, drawn, and quartered in 'Tower Street, London, over against Mark Lane end.' Four of his fellow conspirators suffered similar penalties in different parts of the city.


List of heads of state of Serbia

This is a list of the heads of state of the modern Serbian state, from its establishment during the Serbian Revolution to the present day.
Republic.
Socialist Republic of Serbia (1944–1992).
"SR Serbia" within Democratic Federal Yugoslavia and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Republic of Serbia (1992–2006).
"Republic of Serbia" within Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Republic of Serbia (independent country, 2006–present).
Republic of Serbia became an independent state on 5 June 2006.


Lists of rulers of Serbia

This is a list of lists of rulers and office-holders of Serbia throughout history.


Kinsale Dockyard

Kinsale Dockyard was a British Royal Navy base located at Kinsale, Ireland from to 1812.
History.
By the early 17th century, Kinsale Harbour was already 'a place of great resort for his Majesty's ships of war' During the Battle of Kinsale, ships were often careened on the isthmus of the Castlepark peninsula, where (in an area still known as 'The Dock') facilities were provided for ship repair and maintenance. Later in the century, these facilities migrated across the river to the Custom House Quay at Kinsale itself. By the mid-17th century, a small dockyard had been established, with staff including locally-known shipwrights from Chudleigh family (John Chudleigh, first appointed as assistant to the Master Shipwright in 1647, later served as Master Shipwright at the yard and was succeeded by his son, Thomas Chudeleigh). In 1650, victualling facilities were established alongside the dockyard; these played a key role in the provisioning of westbound vessels setting off from England and Ireland to the colonies. In 1683 the newly-constituted Victualling Board appointed an Agent Victualler to Kinsale to oversee these operations. At the same time, work was underway to improve fortifications around the harbour: the 'New Fort' (Charles Fort) was opened in 1682, to complement the 'Old Fort' (James's Fort).
The dockyard initially served as one of the bases for the Royal Navy's Irish Squadron. Then, in 1694, the English Parliament established Kinsale as the headquarters for co-ordinating convoy operations in the Western Approaches (for protecting merchant shipping from attacks by privateers). In connection, it became home base for up to forty-three cruizers, deployed there to serve as escort ships (though some were based in Bristol, which had a similar co-ordinating role in relation to the Welsh coast). The escort cruizers were mainly fifth-rate naval vessels: small but fast; indeed, Kinsale was always limited to handling smaller vessels, owing to the sandbar at the mouth of the River Bandon. Prize vessels were often brought to Kinsale; the vessels would be anchored in the river and their crews imprisoned in the town.
Although the yard was mainly focussed on ship maintenance, some building took place, most notably of the eponymously named frigate HMS "Kinsale", which was launched there on 22 May 1700. The yard was small compared to the larger Royal Navy Dockyards in England; yet at the height of its activity, in the 1720s, the complex supported a not insubstantial body of labourers, including sixty joiners, forty shipwrights and an assortment of coopers, caulkers, maltsters and smiths.
A survey of the dockyard undertaken by Sir Charles Vallancey in 1777 describes storehouses arranged around three sides of a quadrangle fronting on to the river, an open courtyard containing a mast pond and other buildings (including offices, a sail loft, paint shop and nail store) all enclosed within a perimeter wall, and an area with a boathouse and slipway; however, Vallancey also reported that, while 'Kinsale was suitable in former years it could not [now] cater for our ships of war which draw more water than formerly'. Ominously for the yard's prospects, he concluded that this rendered 'the old Dock and Harbour of Kinsale inadequate for any considerable maritime accommodation or enterprise'.
By 1765 the Admiralty had acquired a property, further along the coast, at the Cove of Cork on the River Lee. Gradually, over the rest of the century, victualling and other facilities were moved there from Kinsale; but the new site was itself far from ideal. It was only after 1803, when the Agent Victualler suggested instead developing Haulbowline (a nearby uninhabited island in Cork Harbour) that Kinsale Dockyard was fully run down, a process that was completed by 1812.
Administration of the dockyard and other key officials.
Responsibility for naval dockyards rested with the Navy Board until 1832, local superintendence being exercised by civilian resident commissioners. Below are incomplete lists of key officials associated with the dockyard.
Commissioner of the Navy, Kinsale.
Included:
Clerk of the Cheque.
Included:
Master Attendant.
Included:
Master Caulker.
Included:
Master Shipwright.
Included:
Master Sailmaker.
Included:
Muster Master.
Included:
Storekeeper.
Included:


Parliamentary parties involved in the 2008 Austrian legislative election

A legislative snap election for the National Council in Austria was held on 28 September 2008. The previous election was held on 1 October 2006. The election (the 24th in Austrian history) was caused by the withdrawal of Austrian People's Party leader Wilhelm Molterer from the governing grand coalition (led by the Social Democratic Party of Austria) on 7 July 2008. Due to dissatisfaction with the grand coalition and the two main parties, it was widely expected to be a realigning election, with gains for the opposition and up to seven parties expected to be in the National Council after the election. The losses for the government parties (both the SPÖ and the ÖVP had the worst election result in history) resulted in strong gains for the far right, while neither the Liberal Forum nor the Citizens' Forum Austria (both of which were considered to have chances of gaining seats) gained as much as 2% of the vote, defying earlier expectations. The result of the election was seen as strong for the far-right and in support of Eurosceptics.
Molterer resigned as party chairman as a result of the losses suffered by the ÖVP and was replaced by environment minister Josef Pröll; the Greens' federal spokesman Alexander Van der Bellen (in office since 1997) also resigned and was replaced by his deputy, Eva Glawischnig. Due to the LIF's failure to enter parliament on its own, LIF founder Heide Schmidt and financier Hans-Peter Haselsteiner both declared their complete withdrawal from politics, and the LIF's fate was seen as uncertain. Shortly after the election, BZÖ leader and Carinthian governor Jörg Haider died in a car accident.
Parties.
Parliamentary parties.
Social Democratic Party of Austria.
The Social Democratic Party of Austria was led by infrastructure minister Werner Faymann and not by the incumbent chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, as the party had decided to have a single person as party leader and leading candidate again. Faymann officially became party leader on 8 August 2008. The SPÖ announced it would not form a coalition with the FPÖ. On 20 July 2008, Faymann announced he would prefer it if Molterer would not be part of the next government, but also stated he was open to a new attempt at a grand coalition with new personalities; on 23 August 2008 he specifically mentioned agriculture minister Josef Pröll as his preferred partner. He reiterated his calls for a new grand coalition on 20 September 2008. Some members of the Carinthian SPÖ, most notably mayor of Villach Helmut Manzenreiter, were open to an SPÖ–FPÖ coalition, but the party base was strongly against this idea.
There were rumours that Gusenbauer would become foreign minister after the election, which were encouraged when he was frequently abroad during the time of the election campaign. There were also suggestions he would be nominated to become European Commissioner after the 2009 European Parliament election if the SPÖ won the legislative election. Both of these possible offices for Gusenbauer appeared to be unlikely after the election, however. Faymann announced on 20 September 2008 that he would like to regain the finance ministry from the ÖVP in the government to be formed after the election, and that education minister Claudia Schmied would be his preferred finance minister.
President Heinz Fischer (also from the SPÖ) said that he understood the need for early elections and stated that he would be open to three-party governments and minority governments (both of which would be a first in Austrian political history, but will likely be necessary to avoid another grand coalition). He also called for quick coalition negotiations.
In its election program, the SPÖ repeated its calls for abolishing university tuition fees and introducing a comprehensive school ("Gesamtschule") for teenagers aged 10 to 14 instead of the early differentiation between "Hauptschule" and "Gymnasium"; it also called for providing all-day child care across the country, relief for lower and middle incomes and an additional increase of pensions to keep up with inflation.
SPÖ MP and university spokesman Josef Broukal announced his withdrawal from politics shortly after the election had been called over the second failed attempt to abolish university tuition fees. On 22 July 2008 SPÖ state secretary for infrastructure Christa Kranzl announced she would not stand in the election due to personal differences between her and Faymann and problems with support from her local party. An internet initiative called for her to remain in politics, and she stated on 21 August 2008 that she might reconsider her move if asked by Faymann to continue her work in government; on 4 September 2008 she announced that she had now changed her mind and would like to be part of the next government. Rudolf Parnigoni, Robert Rada, Anita Fleckl and Peter Marizzi, all SPÖ MPs, will also retire. Carinthian SPÖ chairwoman and state councillor Gaby Schaunig resigned from all of her offices, accusing governor Jörg Haider from the BZÖ of mobbing and insulting her; Reinhart Rohr officially replaced her on 23 August 2008. Long-time SPÖ MP Erwin Niederwieser announced on 29 July 2008 that he would retire. Justice minister Maria Berger announced on 4 August 2008 in an interview with the "Kurier" that she would like to remain in office after the election; while she said it would be easier to push through some reforms in a coalition other than the grand coalition, she was not against continuing the coalition, and even stated that she disagreed with the Greens on introducing same-sex marriage. Defence minister Norbert Darabos announced on 5 August 2008 that he would like to stay in office and warned against a revival of the ÖVP–FPÖ coalition.
Social minister Erwin Buchinger announced on 30 July 2008 that he would not stand for parliament; while he claimed that it would be up to Faymann whether he would stay on as social minister, it was rumoured that Faymann would choose someone from the Austrian Trade Union Federation as social minister instead, due to tradition and the need for reconciliation with the unions. While Buchinger stated on 2 August 2008 he was not tired of politics and was not at all ruling out staying on as social minister, president of the National Council Barbara Prammer (also SPÖ) said that possible successors for Buchinger as social minister would be Renate Csörgits, chairwoman of the social issues committee in the National Council, and family issues spokeswoman Andrea Kuntzl. On 3 August 2008, ÖVP social issues spokesman Werner Amon laid claim to the social ministry after the election, declaring that this would be an issue in coalition talks after the election; the SPÖ immediately denounced this claim. The Faction of Social Democratic Unionists ("Fraktion Sozialdemokratischer Gewerkschafter"), the SPÖ's union wing, also laid claims to the social ministry, although some union leaders stated that the incumbent Buchinger would also count as being from the unions, as his position and actitivites within the Public Employment Service Austria ("Arbeitsmarktservice Österreich") were proof enough of his unionist mindset.
A number of important high-ranking former SPÖ officials and SPÖ supporters wrote an open letter to the SPÖ, which was published on 5 August 2008, in which they criticised the current course the SPÖ was taking under Faymann's leadership; Faymann rejected their criticism the following day.
Austrian People's Party.
The Austrian People's Party went into the election with vice chancellor Wilhelm Molterer as its leader. The ÖVP stated it would try to form a three-party coalition before attempting another grand coalition, though some internal voices have dissented from that; the ÖVP did also not explicitly rule out a coalition with FPÖ or BZÖ, but stated that its coalition partners would have to be clearly supportive of the EU, thus strongly indicating a preference for a coalition with the Greens. Former ÖVP leader and former chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel stated on 1 August 2008 that he was against a coalition involving Faymann's SPÖ, but also claimed that there would be a "change of thinking" ("Umdenken") in the SPÖ after the election. President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Christoph Leitl, well known for his preference of the grand coalition, refused to state his preferences before the election. Some (especially ÖVP members in Vorarlberg) voiced their preference for another ÖVP–FPÖ coalition. Molterer stated on 5 August 2008 that he had nothing against three-party coalitions and would also consider a minority government.
Molterer was considered to be under strong internal pressure at the beginning of the election campaign; the party leaders from Lower Austria (Erwin Pröll), Upper Austria (Josef Pühringer) and Styria (Hermann Schützenhöfer) have all criticised his leadership at some point, though they later stated they had set their differences aside. In late August 2008, rumours surfaced according to which Molterer was planned to be replaced by agriculture minister Josef Pröll if the ÖVP lost the election, or even before the election if the polls continued to show a likely defeat for the ÖVP. The ÖVP (including Pröll himself) strongly denied these allegations.
ÖVP vice federal chairwoman, vice state chairwoman for Tyrol and former state councillor Elisabeth Zanon resigned all her party offices and even publicly considered renouncing her party membership after she was not confirmed as a Tyrolean state councillor in the new cabinet of former interior minister and new governor Günther Platter after the 2008 election in Tyrol, stating that the new political style was unacceptable to her. ÖVP MP and former state secretary for infrastructure Helmut Kukacka announced on 23 July 2008 that he would also stand down from politics and go into business instead. Carinthian ÖVP MP Klaus Auer also retired, stating his dislike for the current kind of politics in Carinthia (referring especially to Haider's populist actions). MPs Karl Freund, Walter Murauer and Edeltraud Lentsch will also retire. Health minister Andrea Kdolsky said she would like to stay on as minister and initially claimed that it had not yet been decided whether she would stand as a candidate on the ÖVP's lists, but later announced she would not stand on the party's lists. On 20 August 2008, it became apparent that Kdolsky would not serve any political function after the election, reportedly because of internal dissent over her popularity; she had reportedly been strongly lobbied by many party members to withdraw from politics. Economy minister Martin Bartenstein announced he would not be willing to stay as minister in a government led by Faymann, voicing preferences for an ÖVP–FPÖ–BZÖ coalition instead. When Faymann stated that he would lay claim to the foreign ministry for the SPÖ after the election in coalition negotiations, Schüssel strongly rebuked him on 5 September 2008, criticising the SPÖ's party line on the EU and on foreign affairs in general.
The only new point in the ÖVP's election program, presented on 31 August 2008, was the call for an income-contingent child benefit; the SPÖ, the Greens and the LIF were strongly in favour of the new proposal, while the FPÖ and the BZÖ were sceptical. Despite the support for the idea, it was considered unlikely that the proposed changes would be passed into law in the parliamentary sessions in September (see below). The ÖVP announced on 8 September 2008 that it would seek citizens' input on a number of campaign promises to which it would consider itself bound in coalition negotiations under a scheme which it called "citizens' contract" ("Bürgervertrag"); the performance of the ÖVP would be controlled by a "council of the wise" ("Weisenrat"). The ÖVP has stated it would like former president of the Court of Auditors Franz Fiedler as chairman of this council.
Freedom Party of Austria.
The Freedom Party of Austria was led by Heinz-Christian Strache, who had criticised the snap elections and demanded the coalition partners should bear the administrative costs of the early elections. The FPÖ did not explicitly rule out a coalition with anyone, although it claimed the ÖVP was trying to "murder" it and the SPÖ was watching from the sidelines. Strache stated however that he did not want to work together with either Molterer or Faymann and that he hoped both large parties would lose enough votes to cause a change of party leadership. When other parties (ÖVP and Greens) announced plans to present lateral hires ("Quereinsteiger") on their candidate lists, the FPÖ stated that it was against lateral hires out of principle. The FPÖ stated its goals were to become the third-largest party again and to become strong enough to break the two-thirds majority which SPÖ and ÖVP had held together since 1945. Secretary-general Vilismky claimed that parties which wished to enter into a coalition with the FPÖ after the election could not rule out do so before the election. Strache stated on 28 August 2008 he did not want to be part of an unstable three-party coalition and wanted to gain more than 15% of the votes. Analysts speculated that his refusal to be part of a three-party coalition was an attempt to destabilise the Austrian political system.
FPÖ MP Karlheinz Klement, who had been in the national media because of his repeated attacks on gender mainstreaming (which he called "gender madness", "Gender-Wahnsinn") and homosexuality (which he referred to as "a culture of death", "eine Kultur des Todes"), was first put in a back-row place in the Carinthian candidate lists of the FPÖ and was later expelled on 31 July 2008 for "behaviour which could damage the party" ("parteischädigendes Verhalten"). Klement had twice been expelled from the FPÖ before 2008. Klement stated on 1 August 2008 that there were two factions in the Carinthian FPÖ: those who agreed with the federal FPÖ led by Strache and those who wanted to seek reunification with the BZÖ (with a minority reportedly in favour of cooperation with Dinkhauser). Klement did not rule out joining the BZÖ with his supporters. A split of the Carinthian FPÖ was not ruled out. Klement said he would take his expulsion to the courts and claimed he would bring the end of Strache and the Secretaries-General Vilimsky and Herbert Kickl. The FPÖ stated it was not afraid of Klement's threats, while the BZÖ said it was open to any people from the FPÖ who wished to join them. Klement submitted his own state candidate list (with Klement himself as leading candidate) to the state election agency ("Landeswahlbehörde") with the signatures of Klement, BZÖ MP Sigisbert Dolinschek and independent and former FPÖ MP Ewald Stadler; Carinthian FPÖ leader Franz Schwager stated that he would submit his own list (with Harald Jannach as its leading candidate), and thus the state election agency will have to decide on 28 August 2008 which of the two candidate lists is the legitimate FPÖ list, unless Schwager and Klement arrive at an agreement before that; the other list will have then be considered as a separate list with a new name. Klement later announced he wanted to expel Strache and MEP Andreas Mölzer from the FPÖ for the same reason for which he was expelled; he stated he would certainly contest the election, with his own list if necessary, and wanted to reunify the FPÖ, the BZÖ and his group within the next two or three years. Klement and Stadler (see below) were officially expelled from the FPÖ's parliamentary group on 20 August 2008. The "official" FPÖ list in Carinthia was submitted on 22 August 2008; Schwager was confident that his list would be accepted as the FPÖ list in Carinthia, as all 26 candidates on the list were also on the FPÖ's federal candidate list, and stated as his goals to surpass the Greens and gain more than 10% of the votes. Klement announced on 25 August 2008 he had offered as a compromise to contest the election as the "List FREE" ("Liste FREI") instead, with the full name "DI Karlheinz Klement – Non-party Freedom-minded List" ("DI Karlheinz Klement – Parteilose, freiheitliche Liste"), and the state election agency initially indicated it saw no problems with this proposal. However, on 28 August 2008 the state election agency unanimously decided to reject his request and to have him contest the election as "Dipl.-Ing. Karlheinz Klement" instead. Klement stated he was considering challenging the validity of the decision at the Constitutional Court and even challenging the election result.
In mid-September 2008, photos which allegedly show Strache participating in "" (paramilitary training sessions and reenactments of combat situations, often with real weapons and considered to be an activity of far right and neo-Nazi groups) in the late 1980s resurfaced; the photos had originally been made public in early 2007, but "News" republished them with additional details visible, such as real weapons being used. The FPÖ denied all of these accusations and claimed that Strache was only participating in paintball games. The Greens strongly criticised Strache and some groups within the SPÖ called for his resignation.
Alliance for the Future of Austria.
The Alliance for the Future of Austria was initially assumed to be led by Peter Westenthaler, but it was later announced that he would not be the leading candidate. Westenthaler's position was endangered as he was before the courts both for false testimony in a case dating back to 2006 and for personal injury of a policeman after a UEFA Euro 2008 match, where he hit a policeman with his car slightly injuring the policeman's knee. Westenthaler disdained all these investigations and claimed they were smear campaigns by SPÖ, ÖVP and/or FPÖ; he stated that it was his choice whether he would lead the BZÖ or whether somebody else would do it, and that the decision would be made by the end of July. A judgment on the issue of false testimony was handed down on 29 July 2008; Westenthaler faced up to three years' prison, but received a suspended sentence of nine months, which he appealed immediately. On the same day, it was announced that Westenthaler would not be the BZÖ's leading candidate. He would, however, be on the lists on a safe place and thus likely would remain an MP; he also announced he would remain party leader, although this was later contradicted. The BZÖ's reaction to the judgment (it claimed the judgment was politically motivated) was heavily criticised by the media, especially as the BZÖ's party program has a strong law and order character. Westenthaler's claims that he would also be the leading candidate in Vienna were criticised by one of the two factions in the Viennese BZÖ, who threatened to refuse to campaign for the BZÖ in case Westenthaler would be the Viennese leading candidate. The Viennese BZÖ split into two factions, both of which claimed to be the legitimate state boards; one of them (led by Viennese BZÖ leader Michael Tscharnutter) wanted to nominate Westenthaler as Viennese leading candidate, if he wanted to, while the other one (led by former Viennese BZÖ leader Günther Barnet) nominated former defence minister Herbert Scheibner and voted Tscharnutter out of office. An internal tribunal had decided on 2 June 2008 that Tscharnutter's faction was illegitimate; Barnet's faction was reported to have given in on 19 August 2008 in order to avoid weakening the party's stand in Vienna; Barnet denied these allegations on the same day. Westenthaler stated he needed a few days' respite before deciding whether to accept the position as leading candidate in Vienna; Scheibner would then be in second place on the Viennese lists. On 19 August 2008, it was announced that Scheibner would be the leading candidate in Vienna, with Westenthaler in second place.
Rumours that Carinthian governor Jörg Haider himself might be the leading candidate were initially denied. Deputy leader Stefan Petzner stated on 28 July 2008 that the leading candidate would be a "small sensation" and that his identity would be announced by mid-August. There were rumours that the leading candidate might be independent MP Ewald Stadler, who left the FPÖ and was formerly "". On 30 July 2008 Petzner stated he could "neither confirm nor deny" reports that Haider would be the leading candidate, but that Haider would certainly be more active in federal politics in the future. On 1 August 2008, FPÖ secretary-general Harald Vilismky strongly attacked Stadler.
It appeared on 2 August 2008 that Stadler's possible candidacy had possibly been a rumour deliberately circulated by the BZÖ in order to make it more of a surprise that Haider would be the leading candidate. Haider stated he would not be against becoming party leader, but emphasised that he would remain governor of Carinthia and would not become an MP, while not ruling out becoming the leading candidate, though he insisted that if so, he would become the BZÖ's "chancellor candidate"; Westenthaler at the same time stated Haider would become party leader and leading candidate, and claimed that 15% of the votes were possible with Haider as leading candidate. On 2 August 2008, Westenthaler stated he was considering a complete withdrawal from politics after handing over to his successor. Both Haider and Westenthaler said on the same day that they had talked with Stadler; Haider said it was up to Westenthaler to decide whether Stadler would be leading candidate or not, but that relations between him and Stadler had now bettered again, while Westenthaler stated that Stadler might be a candidate for the BZÖ but would not be leading candidate. In an interview Haider gave to "Österreich" on 3 August 2008, he confirmed he would be the leading candidate. The party would stand under the name "BZÖ – Jörg Haider's List" ("BZÖ – Liste Jörg Haider"), and Haider explicitly repeated that he would only be a chancellor candidate and that the second politician on the federal candidate list would become chief of the parliamentary club in the National Council, not him, and reopened speculation that Stadler might be the second leading candidate of the BZÖ. Petzner confirmed on the same date that Haider would officially become BZÖ leader and leading candidate on 30 August 2008; on that date, Haider was elected with 100% of the votes as the new BZÖ leader. In an interview with "Österreich", Stadler stated on 5 August 2008 he would very much like to work together with Haider and stand on his lists, in an attempt to win over FPÖ voters and officials. Haider was officially announced to be the BZÖ's leading candidate on 14 August 2008. Stadler was confirmed to be running for the BZÖ (while officially remaining independent) on 16 August 2008.
The BZÖ was reportedly trying to convince a number of former ministers and state secretaries to return to politics, among them Elisabeth Sickl, Herbert Haupt and Ursula Haubner (all former social ministers). Former president of the Court of Auditors Franz Fiedler had also been contacted; while he did not stand on the BZÖ's lists, Haider claimed that Fiedler would be available as a minister. Former vice-chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer was also being lobbied to enter politics again, but she clearly stated she was not interested in any way. Former FPÖ member Ernest Windholz made a comeback as the BZÖ's leading candidate in Lower Austria. Former FPÖ "Bundesgeschäftsführerin" Martina Schenk joined the BZÖ (she claimed she was being treated unfairly in the FPÖ) and was officially presented as one of its candidates on 25 August 2008, and there were rumours that construction industry entrepreneur Richard Lugner (who had previously unsuccessfully contested the 1998 presidential and 1999 legislative elections with his party The Independents) might appear as a BZÖ candidate in Vienna, although this turned out to be a hoax on the same day.
On 8 September 2008, the BZÖ announced that Petzner would be second on the list, followed by Westenthaler, Stadler and Schenk.
BZÖ secretary-general Gerald Grosz announced that the party's goal was to gain at least 7% of votes, while Haider said he would like to double the BZÖ's votes from 4% to 8%. Haider later stated on 24 August 2008 he would like to become chancellor and would consider FPÖ leader Strache as his vice chancellor, and also claimed that the BZÖ would gain more than the 6–7% of the vote it was projected to receive at most by polls at that time.
The Greens – The Green Alternative.
The Greens – The Green Alternative were led by long-time federal spokesman Alexander Van der Bellen. They stated that they were in favour of the snap election, as no work could be done in the current government; their main goal was to be strong enough to be a viable coalition partner for either of the two main parties. The Greens ruled out a coalition with the FPÖ and appear highly critical of a coalition including the BZÖ. Green politicians stated that the ÖVP would have to change in order for a black-green coalition to be a possibility from their side, especially regarding the abuse of power, the distribution of important offices to people closely related to the ÖVP, the illegal distribution of confidential data and other issues. In general, green politicians stated that they are interested in a black-green "experiment"; a red-green coalition was seen as more likely due to less differences on important issues between the two parties, but the SPÖ's new position on the EU was seen to be a problem. The Greens also stated they would like to cooperate with the LIF and did not rule out a coalition with Dinkhauser. After the ÖVP had started its election campaign, Van der Bellen criticised the xenophobic content of one of the election posters and declared it highly unlikely that a ÖVP–Greens coalition would be possible.
The Greens called for the reunification of the education ministry and the science and universities ministry, which had been split after the 2006 election, and announced that they would lay claim to such a merged ministry in coalitions negotiations.
Green MPs Sabine Mandak and Theresia Haidlmayr (the Greens' handicapped spokeswoman) had announced they would not stand in the election; Haidlmayr stated she had not chance to be selected by her party and that the Greens had now got different priorities than handicapped persons' rights and that they wanted fresh and younger faces on their candidate lists. She did not rule out being interested in becoming state secretary for handicapped people, but stated she would not seek the office at all costs. Chief secretary Michaela Sburny stated that she regretted Haidlmayr's decision, but denied claims that Haidlmayr had been denied a safe seat, as all candidate lists are decided by the whole membership of the Greens, thus rendering the granting or denying of a safe seat impossible. Another Green MP stated that there were no seats explicitly reserved for immigrants or handicapped people. MP and women and human rights spokeswoman Brigid Weinzinger was deselected by the Lower Austrian Greens, and youth issues spokeswoman Barbara Zwerschitz was also deselected.
Animal rights activists Martin Balluch, chairman of the Society against Animal Factories ("Verein gegen Tierfabriken"), and Sabine Koch of the Basis Group Animal Rights ("Basisgruppe Tierrechte"), who were remanded in custody on grounds of "founding a criminal organisation" together with eight other animal rights activists on 21 May 2008 after a razzia in the animal activist scene, which the Greens consider to be untenable (as the law under which they are held was meant to help combat mafia crime), stood on the Greens' candidate lists (Koch in Vienna, Balluch in the sixteenth place on the national list), although in places where they were not expected to gain a seat. The Greens were accused of supporting criminals with this decision (especially by the ÖVP and the BZÖ), but they argued that this was a question of principles and that the animal rights activists were not guilty of any crime. On 13 August 2008, one of the ten activists was released, and on 2 September 2008, the nine others were released from custody. The body of public prosecutors ("Oberstaatsanwaltschaft", OStA) had decided that the reason for the detention, danger of suppression of evidence, was no longer valid; while the OStA claimed that danger of committing an offence was still given, they had to be released because of a possible disparity of means in the length of their detention should they be found to be innocent. The Greens welcomed their release, while the BZÖ accused the Greens and the SPÖ of having made a deal linking the release of the animal rights activists to the Greens' votes in favour of Faymann's measures against the rising prices. While Balluch had stated he would not rule out conducting a preference vote campaign in order to gain a seat in the National Council, this was not possible as preference votes can only be given on the regional and state level.
The Greens determine all of their candidate lists through voting of party members at party conventions; the federal convention on 7 September 2008 had to decide on who was placed in the first positions on the national list and would therefore enter parliament. Party leader Van der Bellen and vice-leader Eva Glawischnig were set to be placed in positions one and two; two immigrant women (Alev Korun from Turkey and Beatrice Achaleke from Cameroon) vied for third place (with Burgenland leading candidate Christiane Brunner and two minor candidates), and three long-time party members (security spokesman Peter Pilz, social issues spokesman Karl Öllinger and budget spokesman Bruno Rossmann) vied for places four and six. Pilz, a long-time MP and former party leader, threatened to withdraw from politics if he was not selected on the fourth place of the national candidate list; Öllinger was also on the Viennese list, but Pilz and Rossmann could only remain MPs if they were selected for safe positions on the national list. Pilz stated he would not vie for sixth place if rejected for fourth place. In the first round Korun got 42% and Achaleke 38%, with 19% for the three other candidates; Korun won against Achaleke in the run-off with 54% to 46%. Pilz was selected in the first vote with 51% to Öllinger's 35%, with Rossmann and a minor candidate both gaining 7%. Chief secretary Sburny lost the selection for fifth place against Burgenland leading candidate Brunner, youth and children issues spokeswoman Barbara Zwerschitz and two minor candidates (who already vied for third place) after three rounds of voting (34% to 31% to 25% to 11%, 44% to 36% to 20% and 59% to 41%); her defeat was likely due to strong criticism of the office cumulation, as she would have become both an MP and remained chief secretary. Öllinger, Rossmann and four minor candidates vied for sixth place, which Öllinger won in the first vote 52% to 28% to 18%. Helene Jarmer, president of the Austrian Alliance of the Deaf ("Österreichischer Gehörlosenbund") was selected for the seventh place over the two minor candidates from before with 89%; Rossmann was selected for eighth place, Zwerschitz for ninth.
The Greens presented their new website on 25 August 2008.
Analyses and forecasts.
Analysts and pollsters offered different opinions on whether smaller extraparliamentary parties had chances to enter parliament or not. According to some pollsters, the FRITZ had very good chances of getting into parliament, and the LIF with its founder Schmidt as its leading candidate, as well; the conditions were as good as they had never been before for smaller parties, according to some. Analysts agreed that apart from LIF and FRITZ, all others would fail to enter parliament. Analysts furthermore asserted that the candidacy of the FRITZ would likely make the race for third place between Greens and FPÖ very competitive, as the FRITZ would likely gain protest votes which would otherwise go to the FPÖ. The critical time for the extraparliamentary parties was stated to be the very first phase of the campaign, when the larger parties had not yet really started campaigning and the smaller parties had a chance to gain publicity.
Following the announcement that Haider would return to federal politics, analysts held different opinions on the likely effects of this change. While the race for swing voters between ÖVP, FPÖ and BZÖ was seen to intensify, it was also remarked that Haider has lost much of his appeal and that it would be unlikely that the BZÖ would increase its share of votes just because of his candidacy. The race for third place between the Greens and the FPÖ was seen to be balanced (as Haider might draw votes from the FPÖ and the LIF from the Greens) or slightly in favour of the Greens. One analyst even expected that Haider would attempt to get the FPÖ to adopt a partner relationship with the BZÖ (similar to the Christian Democratic Union–Christian Social Union of Bavaria alliance in Germany), with the BZÖ only operating in Carinthia and the FPÖ in the rest of Austria, after the 2008 election. Stadler confirmed that this was the goal of the BZÖ. Strache explicitly ruled out such an alliance on 7 September 2008.
Four weeks before the election, analysts agreed that the climate was very good for the SPÖ following Faymann's announcement that he would take measures against rising prices, although they also cautioned that the SPÖ's victory was not yet a done deal. The FPÖ was seen as strongly increasing their share of the votes when compared to the 2006 election and the BZÖ was seen as having secured its stay in the National Council. The Greens were seen to be stagnating, while the extraparliamentary parties faced difficulties with entering parliament, with the chances of LIF and the FRITZ intact.
Former ÖVP leader Wolfgang Schüssel claimed on 4 September 2008 the ÖVP's low numbers in the polls were due to the large number of parties contesting the election and denied that the ÖVP had made mistakes in their election campaign so far. Analysts asserted that the Greens' decision to strongly support the animal rights activists remanded in custody under controversial circumstances (see above) might be risky, but that it might pay off through the increased publicity and mobilisation of core voters.
Only four possible coalitions were seen as likely to have a majority after the election: SPÖ–ÖVP, ÖVP–FPÖ–BZÖ, SPÖ–GRÜNE–BZÖ and SPÖ–FPÖ–BZÖ; all but a new grand coalition were seen as unlikely.


Elections in Sweden

Elections to determine the makeup of the legislative bodies on the three levels of administrative division in the Kingdom of Sweden are held once every four years. At the highest level, these elections determine the allocation of seats in the Riksdag, the national parliament of Sweden. Elections to the 20 county councils () and 290 municipal assemblies () – all using roughly the same electoral system – are held concurrently with the legislative elections on the second Sunday in September (with effect from 2014; until 2010 they had been held on the "third" Sunday in September).
Sweden also holds elections to the European Parliament, which unlike Swedish domestic elections are held in June every five years, although they are also held on a Sunday and use an almost identical electoral system. The last Swedish general election was held on 9 September 2018. The last Swedish election to the European Parliament was held on 26 May 2019.
Electoral system.
Dates.
Elections to Sweden's county councils occur simultaneously with the general elections on the second Sunday of September. Elections to the municipal councils also occur on the second Sunday of September. Elections to the European Parliament occur every five years in May or June throughout the entire European Union; the exact day of the election varies by country according to the local tradition, thus in Sweden they happen on a Sunday.
Voter eligibility.
To vote in a Swedish "general election", one must be:
To vote in Swedish "local elections" (for the county councils and municipal assemblies), one must:
In order to vote in elections to the European Parliament, one must be 18 years old, and fall into one of the following groups:
In general, any person who is eligible to vote is also eligible to stand for election.
Sweden does not disenfranchise prisoners or those with criminal convictions. Expat Swedish citizens may however be removed from the polling register if they do not renew their registration every 10 years.
Voting.
Unlike in many countries where voters chose from a list of candidates or parties, each party in Sweden has separate ballot papers. The ballot papers must be identical in size and material, and have different colors depending on the type of election: yellow for Riksdag elections, blue for county council elections and white for municipal elections and elections to the European Parliament.
Sweden uses open lists and utilizes apparentment between lists of the same party and constituency to form a "cartel", a group of lists that are legally allied for purposes of seat allocation. A single preference vote may be indicated as well.
Swedish voters can choose between three different types of ballot papers. The "party ballot paper" has simply the name of a political party printed on the front and is blank on the back. This ballot is used when a voter wishes to vote for a particular party, but does not wish to give preference to a particular candidate. The "name ballot paper" has a party name followed by a list of candidates (which can continue on the other side). A voter using this ballot can choose (but is not required) to cast a personal vote by entering a mark next to a particular candidate, in addition to voting for their political party. Alternatively, a voter can take a "blank ballot paper" and write a party name on it. Finally, if a party hasn't registered its candidates with the election authority, it is possible for a voter to manually write the name of an arbitrary candidate. In reality, this option is almost exclusively available when voting for unestablished parties. However, it has occasionally caused individuals to be elected into the city council to represent parties they don't even support as a result of a single voter's vote.
The municipalities and the national election authority have the responsibility to organise the elections. On the election day, voting takes place in a municipal building such as a school. It is possible to do early voting, also in a municipal building which is available in day time, such as a library. Early voting can be performed anywhere in Sweden, not just in the home municipality.
Earlier Swedish election policy of always displaying the ballot papers for voters to select in public, making it impossible for many voters to vote secretly, has been criticised as undemocratic and is arguably in blatant contravention of Protocol 1, Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights ( ECHR ) which clearly stipulates that elections must be "free" and "by secret ballot" . Whilst many wrongly believe that the use of masking by selecting multiple ballot papers is an effective mitigation of this lack of secrecy, it is readily demonstrated that it cannot be considered as such by simply considering a case where an individual is being coerced into "not" voting for a particular party.
In 2014 a German citizen, Christian Dworeck, reported this lack of secrecy in Swedish voting to the European Commission and from 2019 ballot papers are selected behind a screen. It remains to be seen if this measure, quietly introduced to bring EU elections in Sweden into compliance with European human rights law, will be extended to Swedish parliamentary and local elections.
Cost of ballot papers.
For the general elections, the State pays for the printing and distribution of ballot papers for any party which has received at least one percent of the vote nationally in either of the previous two elections. For local elections, any party that is currently represented in the legislative body in question is entitled to free printing of ballot papers.
Constituencies.
In Riksdag elections, constituencies are usually coterminous with one of the Swedish counties, though the Counties of Stockholm, Skåne (containing Malmö), and Västra Götaland (containing Gothenburg) are divided into smaller electoral constituencies due to their larger populations. The number of available seats in each constituency is based on its number of voters (vis-à-vis the number of voters nationwide), and parties are apportioned seats in each constituency based on their votes in that constituency.
In County Council elections, individual municipalities—or alternatively groups of municipalities—are used as electoral constituencies. The number of seats on the county council allocated to each constituency, and the borders of these constituencies, is entirely at the discretion of each county council itself. As mandated by Swedish law, nine out of ten seats on each county council are permanent seats from a particular constituency; the remaining seats are at-large adjustment seats, used to ensure county-wide proportionality with the vote, just as with general elections.
For European parliamentary elections, all of Sweden consists of one electoral district.
Party list candidate selection.
In Sweden the seats of the Riksdag are allocated to the parties, and the prospective members are selected by their party. Sweden uses open lists and utilizes apparentement between lists of the same constituency and party to form a "cartel", a group of lists that are legally allied for purposes of seat allocation. Which candidates from which lists are to secure the seats allocated to the party is determined by two factors: preference votes are first used to choose candidates which pass a certain threshold, then the number of votes cast for the various lists within that party are used. In national general elections, any candidates who receive a number of personal votes equal to eight percent or greater of the party's total number of votes will automatically be bumped to the top of the list, regardless of their ranking on the list by the party. This threshold is only five percent for local elections and elections to the European Parliament.
Although sometimes dissatisfied party supporters put forward their own lists, the lists are usually put forward by the parties, and target different constituencies and categories of voters. Competition between lists is usually more of a feature of campaign strategies than for effective candidate preferences, and does not bear prominently in elections.
Because seats are allocated primarily to the parties and not candidates, the seat of an MP who resigns during their term in office can be taken by a replacement runner-up candidate from their own party (unlike systems such as the United Kingdom, a by-election is not triggered). In contrast to assigning the seat, resigning is a voluntary action of the MP, meaning that there exists the possibility of MPs resigning from their parties but not their seats and sitting as independents. The system of replacement runner-up candidates also means that the Prime Minister and their potential members of cabinet appear on ballot papers, but surrender their seats to replacement candidates as they are appointed as ministers (holding both posts is not permitted). This allows senior party politicians to assume roles as opposition members of parliament if they lose an election.
Seat allocation.
Seats in the various legislative bodies are allocated amongst the Swedish political parties proportionally using a modified form of the Sainte-Laguë method. This modification creates a systematic preference in the mathematics behind seat distribution, favoring larger and medium-sized parties over smaller parties. It reduces the slight bias towards larger parties in the d'Hondt formula. At the core of it, the system remains intensely proportional, and thus a party which wins approximately 25% of the vote should win approximately 25% of the seats. An example of the close correlation between seats and votes can be seen below in the results of the 2002 Stockholm municipal election.
In Riksdag elections, 310 of the members are elected using a party-list proportional representation system within each of Sweden's 29 electoral constituencies. The remaining 39 seats in the Riksdag are "adjustment seats," distributed amongst the parties in numbers that will ensure that the party distribution in the Riksdag matches the distribution of the votes nationally (in the previous election) as closely as possible. County elections use the same system. All seats on municipal assemblies are permanent; there are no adjustment seats. This can cause the distribution of seats in the municipal assemblies to differ somewhat from the actual distribution of votes in the election. The European Parliament has 751 permanent seats, 20 of which were allocated to Sweden for the 2019 election. After Brexit, an additional seat was allocated for Sweden.
In order to restrict the number of parties which win seats in the Riksdag, a threshold has been put in place. In order to win seats in the Riksdag, a party must win at least four percent of the vote nationally, or twelve percent of the vote in any electoral constituency. County elections use a lower threshold of three percent. For municipal elections, since the elections of 2018 there has been a minimum threshold of two percent in municipalities with only one constituency, and three percent in those with more than one.
Comparison of vote share vs. share of allocated seats after 2018 municipal elections:
Terms of office.
The assembly members are elected for a fixed term of four years. In 1970 to 1994, terms were three years; before that, normally four. The Riksdag may be dissolved earlier by a decree of the prime minister, in which case new elections are held; however, new members will hold office only until the next ordinary election, the date of which remains the same. Thus the terms of office of the new members will be the remaining parts of the terms of the MPs in the dissolved parliament.
The unicameral Riksdag has never been dissolved by decree. The last time the second chamber of the old Riksdag was dissolved in this manner was in 1958.
The regional and local assemblies cannot be dissolved before the end of their term.
Party organization.
While parties have been very careful to maintain their original mass party image, party organizations have become increasing professionalized and dependent on the state, and less connected with their grass-roots members and civil society. Party membership has declined to 210,067 members in 2010 across all parties (3.67% of the electorate), from 1,124,917 members in 1960 (22.62% of the electorate). Political parties can be registered with the support of 1500 electors for Riksdag elections, 1500 electors for EU elections, 100 electors for county council elections, and/or 50 electors for municipal elections.
Riksdag elections.
The unicameral Parliament of Sweden has 349 members: 310 are elected using party-list proportional representation, and 39 using "adjustment seats."
Latest result.
At the 2018 general elections the red-green coalition consisting of Social Democrats, Greens and the Left got 40.7% of the votes compared to 40.3% for the Alliance parties, resulting in a single-seat difference between the blocks. After a prolonged government formation process, Stefan Löfven was able to form a minority government with the Greens, conditional on external support from Centre Party and the Liberals.
Riksdag election results in percent 1911–2018.
The first elections to a unicameral Riksdag were held in 1970. The older figures refer to elections of the Andra kammaren under the older bicameral system.
Elections to the European Parliament.
The most recent European parliamentary elections in Sweden were held in May 2019.


Lady Blanche Arundell

Lady Blanche Arundell (née Lady Blanche Somerset; 1583 or – 28 October 1649) was an English noblewoman, known as the defender of Wardour Castle, where she defended the castle for nearly a week with just 25 men and her maidservants against a force of 1300.
Biography.
Arundell was born Blanche Somerset in 1583 or 1584, daughter of Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester, and Lady Elizabeth Hastings.
She danced in the masque at the marriage of Anne Russell and Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester in June 1600. The other dancers, led by Mary Fitton, were Lady Dougherty, Mistress Carey, Elizabeth Southwell, Mistress Onslow, Bess Russell, and Mistress Darcy. They wore skirts of cloth of silver, waiscoats embroidered with coloured silks and silver and gold thread, mantles of carnation taffeta, and "loose hair about their shoulders" which was also "curiously knotted and interlaced".
On 11 May 1607 (date of settlement for the marriage) she married Thomas Arundell, 2nd Baron Arundell of Wardour, son of Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour, and Lady Mary Wriothesley. They had three children:
Arundell was a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Denmark. John Finet described the reception of Isabelle Brûlart, the wife of French ambassador Gaspard Dauvet, Sieur des Marets, at Denmark House on the Strand in December 1617. He brought her to a chamber in the first court where she was joined by Arundell, Mistress Barbara Sidney (daughter of the Viscountess Lisle), Mistress Southwell of the queen's privy chamber, and Mistress Gargrave (one of her Majesty's maids of honour). A gentleman usher then took Brûlart to the queen in the Privy Chamber.
During the Civil War, Lord Arundell brought together a regiment of horsemen in support of King Charles I, who he led into the Battle of Stratton in Cornwall on 16 May 1643. He was injured during the battle and died on 19 May 1643.
From 2 May 1643, during the absence of her husband, she defended Wardour Castle, near Tisbury, Wiltshire, for six days with only herself, her children, a few maidservants, and twenty-five men against the Parliamentary forces of thirteen hundred men and artillery commanded by two Parliamentary officers, Sir Edward Hungerford and Colonel Edmund Ludlow. She finally was forced to surrender on honourable terms. However, the terms were not honoured: the castle was sacked and she was removed as a prisoner to Shaftesbury. However, due to her illness, she was instead moved to Dorchester.
She died at Winchester, Hampshire, and was buried at Tisbury. Her will dated 28 September 1649 was probated on 2 November 1649.


Charles Dallison

Sir Charles Dallison ( 1620–1661) was a gentleman from Lincolnshire who served as an officer in the Royalist army during the English Civil War. He was also a serjeant-at-law, and in 1648 he published an often cited pamphlet justifying his reasons for supporting the Royalist cause.
Biography.
Charles Dallison was the third son of Sir Thomas Dallison (d. 1626) of Greetwell, Lincolnshire, and Anne, daughter of Humfrey Littlebury, of Stainsby, in the same county. He was admitted to Gray's Inn in February 1620. He returned to Lincolnshire where by 1637 was the city of Lincoln's counsel, and became recorder of Lincoln in 1637.
In June 1642 it appeared that Lincolnshire would support the Parliamentary cause when at the instigation of Francis, Lord Willoughby they agreed to implement the Militia Ordinance. In July Charles I visited Lincoln in the hope of persuading the local gentry to support his cause, when he arrived at Lincoln on 14 July 1642, Dallison made the speech of loyalty on behalf of the city and was knighted by Charles. Sir Charles, was appointed by the King to the Commission of Array for Lincolnshire (to organise the recruitment for the nascent Royalist army). Towards the end of the year, when the battle lines were drawn he was commissioned into the Royalist army as a colonel of a regiment horse (cavalry). In retaliation for his active support for the royalist cause, Parliament to impeach him on 14 September 1642 and in December he was deprived of his Receivership.
On 9 March 1643 Sir Charles attacked parliamentary forces on Coddington Heath. On the 1 June while Parliamentary cavalry was absent from Lincolnshire supporting the siege of Nottingham, Royalist cavalry and dragoons sallied out from Gainsborough under the joint command of Sir John Brook, Sir Charles, and Captain Whichcote and attacked Market Rasen on 1 June 1643. On the following day they entered and occupied Louth. The next day, 3 June, they were driven out by a relief force from the Parliamentary garrison at Lincoln. About 100 Royalists were taken prisoner when the Parliamentarians retook Louth.
On 6 May 1644 Sir Charles was taken prisoner by the Eastern Association when they assaulted captured Lincoln, but after a short imprisonment was exchanged and at the end of the First Civil War was governor of Newark. He went to France in 1646 and was absent for the Second Civil War.
Sir Charles is notable as one of only seven Royalist delinquents exempted from the Parliamentary pardon passed by the commons on the 21 October 1648, and by the Lords on 24 October: Francis, Lord Cottington, George, Lord Digby, Sir Robert Heath, Sir Francis Doddington, Sir George Radcliffe and Sir Richard Grenville. However on 11 November the House of Lords overturned their exemption on three of the men Lord Cottington, Sir Robert Heath and Sir Charles Dallison. He returned to England after the war and was fined £465, which was reduced to £351 in 1651.
During the interregnum Dallison was thought by the authorities to be in favour of a Roman Catholic alliance to restore Charles II to the throne, however P. R. Newman states although "he came from a partially recusant background, he writings imply impatience with religion in whatever form".
On 20 December 1661 The Lord Chancellor and Lord Treasurer approve the grant of certain lands in Lincolnshire to Sir Charles Dallison:
Bibliography.
In 1648, while exiled in France, Sir Charles Dallison published "The Royalist defence; Vindicating the King's Proceedings in the late Warre made against him." P. R. Newman considers this to be "The most expansive and cogently argued of all Royalist self-vindications". In it he explains that he initially took up arms because of the Militia Ordinance which he considered an illegal act because the king did not give his royal assent to it. In the opinion of Dallison no new law can be passed without the assent of the king, so those who marched under the authority of the Militia Ordinance were committing high treason, and it was the duty of all loyal subjects to defend the king against those who break the law and commit high treason.
Family.
Most of Sir Charles's close family supported the Royalist cause. His uncle William Dallison and his son Robert Dallison fought for King Charles. In 1644 Robert was granted a baronetcy (see Dallison baronets), and along with his father were found by Parliament to be Royalist delinquents they their estates sequestrated and compounded for the sum of £1,300. This did not deter Sir Robert who in 1658 was known to be actively sympathetic to the Royalist cause. Thomas Dallison another Lincolnshire man from another branch of the family, was a Roylist colonel of horse who was slain at the Battle of Naseby in 1645.
Sir Charles had a number of children, and was probably a Roman Catholic, as one son became a Roman Catholic priest and two daughters became nuns. He also had a number of other children including:


Russians in Estonia

The population of Russians in Estonia is estimated at 320,000, most of whom live in the urban areas of Harju and Ida-Viru counties. Estonia has a 300-year old history of small-scale settlement by Russian Old Believers along Lake Peipus. The predominant majority of the current Russian population in Estonia originate from the Soviet occupation period immigration.
Early contacts.
The Estonian name for Russians "vene", "venelane" derives from an old Germanic loan "veneð" referring to the Wends, speakers of a Slavic language who lived on the southern coast of the Baltic sea.
Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kievan Rus' defeated Chuds in 1030 and established fort of Yuryev (in modern-day Tartu), which survived until 1061 when the Kievans were driven out by the tribe of Sosols.
A medieval proto-Russian settlement was in Kuremäe, Vironia. The Orthodox community in the area built a church in the 16th century and in 1891 the Pühtitsa Convent was created on its site. Proto-Russian cultural influence had its mark on Estonian language, with a number of words such as "turg" (trade) and "rist" (cross) adopted from East Slavic.
In 1217, an allied Ugaunian-Novgorodian army defended the Ugaunian stronghold of Otepää from the German knights. Novgorodian prince Vyachko died in 1224 with all his druzhina defending the fortress of Tarbatu together with his Ugaunian and Sackalian allies against the Brothers of the Sword led by Albert of Riga.
Orthodox churches and small communities of proto-Russian merchants and craftsmen remained in Livonian towns as did close trade links with the Novgorod Republic and the Pskov and Polotsk principalities. In 1481, Ivan III of Russia laid siege to the castle of Fellin (Viljandi) and briefly captured several towns in eastern Livonia in response to a previous attack on Pskov. Between 1558 and 1582, Ivan IV of Russia captured much of mainland Livonia in the midst of the Livonian War but eventually the Russians were driven out by Lithuanian-Polish and Swedish armies. Tsar Alexis I of Russia once again captured towns in eastern Livonia, including Dorpat (Tartu) and Nyslott (Vasknarva) between 1656 and 1661, but had to yield his conquests to Sweden.
17th century to 1940.
The beginning of continuous Russian settlement in what is now Estonia dates back to the late 17th century when several thousand Russian Old Believers, escaping religious persecution in Russia, settled in areas then a part of the Swedish empire near the western coast of Lake Peipus.
In the 18th century after the Great Northern War the territories of Estonia divided between the Governorate of Estonia and Livonia became part of the Russian Empire but maintained local autonomy and were administered independently by the local Baltic German nobility through a feudal Regional Council (). The second period of influx of Russians followed the Imperial Russian conquest of the northern Baltic region, including Estonia, from Sweden in 1700–1721. Under Russian rule, power in the region remained primarily in the hands of the Baltic German nobility, but a limited number of administrative jobs was gradually taken over by Russians, who settled in Reval (Tallinn) and other major towns.
A relatively larger number of ethnic Russian workers settled in Tallinn and Narva during the period of rapid industrial development at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. After the First World War, the share of ethnic Russians in the population of independent Estonia was 7.3%. About half of these were indigenous Russians living in Narva, Ivangorod, the Estonian Ingria and the Petseri County, which were added to Estonia territory according to the 1920 Peace Treaty of Tartu, but were transferred (without Narva) to the Russian SFSR in 1944.
In the aftermath of World War I Estonia became an independent republic where the Russians, comprising 8% of the total population among other ethnic minorities, established Cultural Self-Governments according to the 1925 Estonian Law on Cultural Autonomy. The state was tolerant of the Russian Orthodox Church and became a home to many Russian émigrés after the Russian October Revolution in 1917.
World War II and the Estonian SSR.
After the Occupation and annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union in 1940, repression of ethnic Estonians followed. According to Sergei Isakov, almost all societies, newspapers, organizations of ethnic Estonians were closed in 1940 and their activists persecuted. The country remained annexed to the Soviet Union until 1991, except for the period of Nazi occupation between 1941 and 1944. During the era of Soviet occupation, the Soviet government maintained a program of replacing the indigenous Estonians with immigrants from the Soviet Union. In the course of violent population transfers, thousands of Estonian citizens were deported to the interior parts of Russia (mostly Siberia), and huge numbers of Russian-speaking Soviet citizens were encouraged to settle in Estonia. In the Ida-Viru and Harju Counties, cities such as Paldiski, Sillamäe, and Narva were ethnically cleansed and the indigenous Estonian population was totally replaced by Russian colonists. As a result of Soviet occupation, the Russian population in Estonia grew from about 23,000 people in 1945 to 475,000 in 1991, and the total Slavic population to 551,000, constituting 35% of the total population at its peak.
In 1939 ethnic Russians had comprised 8% of the population; however, following the annexation of about of land by the Russian SFSR in January 1945, including Ivangorod (then the eastern suburb of Narva) and the Petseri County, Estonia lost most of its inter-war ethnic Russian population. Of the estimated 20,000 Russians remaining in Estonia, the majority belonged to the historical community of Old Believers.
Most of the present-day Russians in Estonia are recent migrants and their descendants who settled in during the Soviet occupation between 1945 and 1991. Following the terms of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed the Baltic States in 1940. The authorities carried out repressions against many prominent ethnic Russians activists and White emigres in Estonia. Many Russians were arrested and executed by different Soviet war tribunals in 1940–1941. After Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, the Baltics quickly fell under German control. Many Russians, especially Communist party members who had arrived in the area with the initial occupation and annexation, retreated; those who fell into the German hands were treated harshly, many were executed.
After the war, Narva's inhabitants previously evacuated by the Germans were for the most part not permitted to return and were replaced by refugees and workers administratively mobilized from western Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. By 1989, ethnic Russians made up 30.3% of the population in Estonia.
During the Singing Revolution, the Intermovement, International Movement of the Workers of the ESSR, organised the local Russian resistance to the independence movement and purported to represent the ethnic Russians and other Russophones in Estonia.
In independent Estonia (1990–present).
Today most Russians live in Tallinn and the major northeastern cities of Narva, Kohtla-Järve, Jõhvi, and Sillamäe. The rural areas are populated almost entirely by ethnic Estonians, except for the coast of Lake Peipus, which has a long history of Old Believers communities. In 2011, University of Tartu sociology professor Marju Lauristin found that 21% were successfully integrated, 28% showed partial integration, and 51% were unintegrated or little integrated.
There are efforts by the Estonian government to improve its tie with the Russian community with Prime Minister Jüri Ratas learning Russian to better communicate with them. President Kersti Kaljulaid is also considered to be a defender of the interests of the Russian-speaking minority, having previously moved to Narva in order to "better understand the people and their problems". The younger generation is better integrated with the rest of the country such as joining the military via conscription and improve their Estonian language skills.
Citizenship.
The restored republic recognised citizenship only for the pre-occupation citizens or descendants from such (including the long-term Russian settlers from earlier influxes, such as Lake Peipus coast and the 10,000 residents of the Petseri County), rather than to grant Estonian nationality to all Estonian-resident Soviet citizens. The Citizenship Act provides the following requirements for naturalisation of those people who had arrived in the country after 1940, the majority of whom were ethnic Russians: knowledge of the Estonian language, Constitution and a pledge of loyalty to Estonia. The government offers free preparation courses for the examination on the Constitution and the Citizenship Act, and reimburses up to 380 euros for language studies.
Under the law, residents without citizenship may not elect the Riigikogu (the national parliament) nor the European Parliament, but are eligible to vote in the municipal elections. As of 2 July 2010, 84.1% of Estonian residents are Estonian citizens, 8.6% are citizens of other countries (mainly Russia) and 7.3% are "persons with undetermined citizenship".
Between 1992 and 2007 about 147,000 people acquired Estonian or Russian citizenship, or left the country, bringing the proportion of stateless residents from 32% down to about 8 percent. According to Amnesty International's 2015 report, approximately 6.8% of Estonia's population are not citizens of the country.
In late 2014 an amendment to the law was proposed that would give Estonian citizenship to children of non-citizen parents who have resided in Estonia for at least five years.
Language requirements.
The perceived difficulty of the language tests became a point of international contention, as the government of the Russian Federation and a number of human rights organizations objected on the grounds that they made it hard for many Russians who had not learned the language to gain the citizenship in the short term. As a result, the tests were altered somewhat, due to which the number of stateless persons steadily decreased. According to Estonian officials, in 1992, 32% of residents lacked any form of citizenship. In May 2009, the Population register reported that 7.6% of residents have undefined citizenship and 8.4% have foreign citizenship, mostly Russian. As the Russian Federation was recognized as the successor state to the Soviet Union, all former USSR citizens qualified for natural-born citizenship of Russia, available upon mere request, as provided by the law "On the RSFSR Citizenship" in force up to the end of 2000.
Politics.
Historically, the Estonian Centre Party has been the most popular party among Russian-speaking citizens. In 2012, it was supported by up to 75% of ethnic non-Estonians.
In 2021, pundits noticed that since 2019 Conservative People's Party of Estonia support grew in the Russian community (notably in Ida-Viru County) This might be attributed to party's social conservative stance on social policy matters (e. g. opposition to the same-sex marriage).


Joseph H. Romig

Joseph Herman Romig (September 3, 1872 – 1951) was a frontier physician and Moravian Church missionary, who served as Mayor of Anchorage, Alaska from 1937 until 1938.
Biography.
Family and missionary work.
Joseph H. Romig was born September 3, 1872 in Edwards County, Illinois to Joseph and Margaret Ricksecker Romig, both the descendants of Moravian immigrants who had settled in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. He grew up with nine brothers and sisters on the Chippewa Mission Farm near Independence, Kansas. The Moravian Church sponsored his medical training at the Hahnemann Medical School in Philadelphia in exchange for a pledge to serve for seven years as a doctor at a mission. At school, he met Ella Mae Ervin of Kingston, Pennsylvania, who was studying nursing.
In 1896, Joseph and Ella were married, and the couple moved to Bethel, Alaska to join Joseph's older sister Edith Margaret and her husband John Henry Kilbuck as missionaries to the Yup'ik people. Joseph and Ella had four children: Robert Herman (born 1897), Margaret Maryetta (born 1898), Helen Elizabeth (born 1901), and Howard Glenmore (born 1911). For a time, Romig was one of the only physicians in Alaska. He became known as the "dog team doctor" for traveling by dog sled throughout the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in the course of his work.
Career.
In 1903, with his term of missionary service complete, Romig relocated the family to San Francisco, California. He was there for the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and ran an emergency hospital in the aftermath. In 1906, he moved back to Alaska to take a job as a company physician in Nushagak. He also worked for a time as a United States Commissioner before moving to Seward to open a small hospital.
In the 1920s, he worked as chief surgeon at the St. Joseph's Hospital in Fairbanks before setting up a hospital in Nenana for the Alaska Railroad. In 1930, he was asked to head the Alaska Railroad Hospital in Anchorage. When his son, Howard, returned from Stanford University Medical School, they went into private practice together.
Joseph Romig was elected Mayor of Anchorage in 1937, serving a single term. The same year, Ella Mae Ervin Romig died. In 1939, he was remarried to Emily Craig, who had worked as chief of nursing at the railroad hospital.
In 1939, Romig was appointed chief surgeon at Anchorage's newly constructed Providence Hospital at Ninth and L Street. He retired shortly thereafter, purchasing land on what would later be called Romig Hill. From his log cabin on the property, he started a "Board of Directors" club which eventually provided the founding members of the Anchorage Rotary Club.
Death and Legacy.
Joseph and Emily Romig moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where Joseph died in 1951. Although he was originally buried in Colorado, his remains were later disinterred and moved to Alaska to be buried in the family plot in Anchorage Memorial Park.. Romig Junior High School, named in his honor, was later built on Romig Hill.


Radoslav of Serbia

Radoslav (, ) was a Serbian Prince ("Knez", Archont) who ruled over the early medieval Principality of Serbia at the beginning of the 9th century. He succeeded his father, prince Višeslav, who ruled at the end of the 8th century. Radoslav was succeeded by his son, prince Prosigoj.
According to "De Administrando Imperio", compiled by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, during the reign of princes Višeslav, Radoslav and Prosigoj there was no war between the Serbian Principality and its eastern neighbour, the Bulgarian Khanate.
Radoslav or his son was the ruler of Serbia during the uprisings (819–822) of Ljudevit Posavski against the Franks. According to the Royal Frankish Annals, in 822, Ljudevit went from his seat in Sisak to the Serbs, somewhere in western Bosnia. Under the same entry, the "Royal Frankish Annals" state that Serbs were controlling a great part of Dalmatia ("ad Sorabos, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur") but according to John (Jr.) Fine, it was hard to find Serbs in this area since the Byzantine sources were limited to the southern coast, also it is possible that among other tribes exists tribe or group of small tribes of Serbs. However, the mentioning of "Dalmatia" in 822 and 833 as an old geographical term by the authors of Frankish Annals was "Pars pro toto" with a vague perception of what this geographical term actually referred to.
During the reign of prince Radoslav, and his immediate predecessors and successors, the process of gradual Christianization of the Serbs was still going on, starting in the first half of the 7th century and finally ending by the middle of the 9th century.


Harald Feller

Harald Feller (1913, Switzerland – 2003) was a Swiss diplomat who saved Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust, for which he was honored by Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Among the Nations in 1999.
He replaced Maximilian Jaeger (c. 1915 – 1999) as head of the Swiss legation in Budapest, Hungary, in 1944. He supported Carl Lutz with the rescue of Jews under Swiss protection. Feller worked closely with the other neutral legations in constantly pressuring the Horthy and Sztójay governments to end the persecution and deportations of Jews. Feller protected members of the Swedish legation, who were targeted by the Arrow Cross Party, by giving them false Swiss passports and providing shelter. Toward the end of the war, Feller hid dozens of Jews in the basement of his consular residence in Budapest.
In February 1945, the Soviets arrested Feller and Maximilian Jaeger and sent him to Moscow, along with other Swiss nationals. They both were returned to Switzerland in February 1946 in exchange for two pilots who defected to Switzerland.


Jewish deportees from Norway during World War II

Prior to the deportation of individuals of Jewish background to the concentration camps there were at least 2,173 Jews in Norway. During the Nazi occupation of Norway 772 of these were arrested, detained, and/or deported, most of them sent to Auschwitz. 742 were murdered in the camps, 23 died as a result of extrajudicial execution, murder, and suicide during the war. Between 28 and 34 of those deported survived their continued imprisonment (following their deportation). The Norwegian police and German authorities kept records of these victims, and so, researchers were able to compile information about the deportees.
Before deportation.
The deportation followed a series of steps to discriminate, persecute, and disenfranchise Jews in Norway. Jewish individuals were at first arrested, Jewish property was confiscated, Jews were ordered to report to local police stations and have their identification cards stamped with a "J" and fill in a lengthy form about their profession, holdings, and family. Based on the lists the police compiled, most Jewish adult men were arrested and detained in October 1942, and by November 26, women and children were also arrested for deportation. This is the only time in Norwegian history that Norwegian police had been ordered to arrest children.
The deportation from Norway to concentration camps followed a planned staging of events involving both Norwegian police authorities and German Gestapo, Sicherheitsdienst, and SS staff, though the front for the campaign was through Statspolitiet under the command of Karl Marthinsen:
Detentions and deportation took on scale when all Jewish men were ordered arrested on October 26, 1942 and sent to camps in Norway, notable Berg, Grini, and Falstad, where they were held under harsh conditions until the deportation, targeted for November 26 on the .
Women and children were arrested on or just before November 26 with the goal of deporting them the same day.
The arrests were conducted by Norwegian policemen and "lensmenn"—not by Germans—according to Baard Herman Borge (a researcher).
Deportation.
The deportation schedule for the major transports was:
Most of those deported were Norwegian citizens. Some were stateless refugees, and a few were citizens of other countries.
In addition to those Jews from Norway which were killed by the Nazis in death camps (Vernichtungslager), at least 22 more Jews died in Norway as a result of murder, extrajudicial executions and suicide.
Distribution of deportees by county arrested and transport.
Jewish individuals who were deported included those with Norwegian citizenship, foreign citizens, and stateless refugees that were arrested and deported. The site where they were arrested was not always their place of residence; many had relocated to rural areas to avoid detection. The majority of those deported were immediately murdered in the gas chambers at Auschwitz; some were put to slave labor but perished soon after. A very small number ultimately survived.
Liberation and return.
Thousands of Norwegians were deported to camps in Germany and German-occupied territories during World War II. Most of those who survived were rescued by the White Buses campaign undertaken by the Norwegian government in exile, the Swedish government, the Danish government, with the Swedish Red Cross implementing the rescue with its offices. This followed intensive efforts by Norwegian and other Scandinavians to track and maintain contact with Norwegian citizens in camps. By comparison, there was no organized effort to maintain contact with and establish the fate of Jews who had been deported from Norway.
34 of the deportees survived the war. At least 21 of them returned to Norway soon after the war. The survivors were liberated from the following camps:
2015 saw the death of the last remaining survivor of those deported from Norway—Samuel Steinmann.
Aided by the organization behind the White Buses.
Four Norwegian Jews were rescued by the White Buses. At least one prisoner at the Dachau concentration camp was denied—by an SS-soldier—leaving with the White Buses, because the prisoner allegedly was not considered a Norwegian since he was a Jew.
Reactions.
In trials in 1946 and 1948 regarding Knut Rød's role in the deportations, he was found not guilty. An Aftenposten article in 2014 said that the not guilty verdict has been called "the point of absolute zero in Norway's judicial history".
Legacy.
Individual deportees have been commemorated with "stolpersteine" on a number of sidewalks in Oslo.
External links.
Survivors:
Deceased in camps:


John Crofts

John Crofts was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1653 and in 1656. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War.
Crofts was of Nether Swell, near Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire. His origins are obscure, but he may have been the brother of James Crofts, Sheriff of Bristol. He was an active captain in the Parliamentary army during the Civil War.
In 1653, Crofts was elected Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire in the Barebones Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Gloucestershire in 1656 for the Second Protectorate Parliament. He was captain of the militia in Gloucestershire in 1659. In 1662 he was removed from the Common Council of Tewkesbury.
Crofts married Anne Waterworth, a widow and daughter of Sir William Leigh of Longborow.
References.


Fanny Edelman

Fanny Jacovkis, better known as Fanny Edelman (27 February 1911 – 1 November 2011) was an Argentine politician who was part of the International Brigades in defense of the Second Spanish Republic. She was honorary president of the Communist Party of Argentina until the day of her death.
Biography.
Fanny Jacokvis was born in Córdoba to the immigrant family who fled the anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire: her father Felipe came from Zgurița in Bessarabia and mother from Congress Poland. Her family moved to Buenos Aires when she was 13. She worked in the textile industry and as a music teacher.
In 1934, repelled by the electoral fraud of General José Félix Uriburu, she joined the International Red Aid (Communist party).
In 1936, she married the journalist and social activist Bernardo Edelman, and together they were mobilized by the Communist party in 1937 to engage in the Republican resistance in Valencia. This is when she adopted her husband's name and became Fanny Edelman. Bernardo was reporting for the "Nueva España" newspapers, while she was representing the interests of the International Red Aid like providing materials to the Communist soldiers.
After her brief time in the Spanish Civil War, she returned to Argentina in 1937. As a Communist leader, she supported all international battles led by the Party. In 1947, she worked for the creation of the Women's Union of Argentina. In 1972, she became head of the Women's International Democratic Federation.
Fanny Edelman died on November 1, 2011, in Buenos Aires. She has a daughter, Lucy Edelman.