The results after 4,800 of 6,004 districts had been counted, showed the governing Social Democrat and Green party coalition, together with the Left Party, winning 40.6% of votes, the election authority data showed.
The Alliance opposition bloc, composed of the Moderates, the Christian Democrats, the Centre party and the Liberals, looked set to win 40.1%. The nationalist Sweden Democrats were on track to get 17.8%. The results are partial and may differ slightly from the final outcome.
Meanwhile, Italian Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League, applauded poll results out of Sweden showing gains by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.
“Sweden, birthplace of multiculturalism and model for the left, has finally decided to change after years of wild, uncontrolled immigration,” he said in a statement in Rome.
“Now they are also saying ‘no’ to this Europe of bureaucrats and speculators, ‘no’ to illegals,” he added.
He predicted that the showing in Sweden bodes well for the European elections in May, when “we will complete the change based on the value of jobs, security and family” away from “the Socialists.”
Marine Le Pen of France’s far-right Front National hailed Sweden Democrats’s projected rise, tweeting: “Yet another bad night ahead for the European Union. The democratic revolution in Europe is moving forward!”
Sweden Democrats, with roots in the neo-Nazi movement, has said the large number of asylum-seekers presents a threat to Swedish culture and claims they put a strain on the country’s generous welfare state.
Around 18.5% of Sweden’s population of 10mn was born abroad, according to Statistics Sweden.
The Social Democrats, traditionally the biggest party, have led a minority government with the Greens since 2014, with the informal support of the ex-communist Left Party to pass legislation in parliament. Page 17