Sweden: Yellow Vests-Like ’Petrol Uproar’ Gathers 275,000 Supporters

By Staff, Agencies

The so-called "Petrol Uproar", which has been largely modelled after the Yellow Vests of France and is pushing for lower fuel prices, gathered a quarter of a million supporters on Facebook in no time.

The "Petrol Uproar", a popular Swedish movement against record-high petrol prices, has postponed its plans to hold protests across Sweden after it has been denied demonstration permits, the newspaper Aftonbladet reported.

Inspired by the French Yellow Vests, the Petrol Uproar initially planned to don vests and demonstrate in a dozen Swedish cities, including the capital Stockholm on Friday. However, the plans were put on ice.

"We didn't get a permit, so it won't come off," initiator Janne Berglund lamented. While admitting his disappointment, he said he won't give up. "We will run the next Friday instead, until then the permits will be ready. But it is clear that it does not feel so good right now after you have been charging for so long," Berglund said.

The "Petrol Uproar" has grown out of popular dissatisfaction with fuel prices. At present, 1 liter of gasoline costs SEK 16.79 [$1.74], having risen by more than SEK 2 [$0.21] since January. There are signals that the price could increase even further this summer.

It was 69-year-old Janne Berglund who accidentally started the movement. When the petrol price exceeded the 16-krona border in April, he decided that he'd had enough and took to Facebook to gauge the public opinion on the price trend. While he only reckoned he'd attract several hundred sympathizers at most, the membership soared, exceeding 275,000 members.

Inspired by the Yellow Vests in France, who also derived their original impetus from popular discontentment with the fuel prices and have been protesting for 25 consecutive weeks, the participants are planning to procure yellow or orange vests and take to the streets.

The displeasure is most pronounced among car-dependent Swedes and farmers, especially in sparsely-populated areas where there is no alternative means of transportation. Many also feel betrayed by the Social Democratic government, which despite its campaign promise not to raise the petrol tax, did just that shortly after the general election. At present, over 60 percent of the petrol price is tax.