It seems political uncertainty and difficult coalition negotiations will have to continue for some more time before Sweden manages to form the next government.

The most worrying thing about this month’s Swedish election was not that it yielded a stalemate but it brought anti-immigration and xenophobic Sweden Democrats (SD) closer to power than ever.

Even if SD is excluded from power, it is sure to cast its ominous shadow over all future governments, whatever the party or parties and their ideology. That this is happening in a country that welcomed a record 163,000 immigrants in 2016 is evidence of how far feelings that unleashed an anti-European wave in Britain and made election of Donald Trump as American president possible have taken root even in this famously liberal Nordic haven.

The Social Democrats, who ruled Sweden for 44 years continuously, is not the only mainstream European party that is facing increasing challenge from insurgent parties — often nationalist, populist and anti-immigrant.

In less than two years, the continent’s social-democratic parties have suffered historic losses in France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy.

In Hungary, Denmark and Poland, right-wing nationalists have quietly slipped into parliaments or won significant numbers of votes. In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the official opposition party. Austria’s Freedom Party is now part of a coalition government.

European voters have transformed a series of recent elections into popular referenda on immigration. Right-wing populist movements have skilfully played on blue-collar voters’ fears by convincing them that traditional parties will allow immigrants to flow in virtually unchecked. In Sweden, it was unthinkable to talk about immigration just four years ago. Now it has one of the strongest anti-immigrant parties in Europe.

The Italian elections in March delivered a humbling defeat to the traditional parties and gave birth to a coalition of far right anti-migrant League and anti-establishment Five Star Movement. The leader of the League, now the most popular party in Italy,

and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has vowed that no more private aid ships will bring migrants to Italian shores. Many see Salvini as the leader most capable of piecing together a large group of populist, nationalist parties in Europe. On Sept. 7, former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon met Salvini in Rome to discuss creating a hard-line coalition across Europe for crucial EU elections next May. This means that the “dark forces” Prime Minister Stevan Lofven says, “are mobilising in Sweden”, will move to other parts of Europe.

The fact is that even the European left is showing signs of questioning its commitment to open borders. In Germany, Marxist Sahra Wagenknecht of the Left party has launched Aufstehen, a popular front, to woo back working class voters turned off by the leftist parties’ traditional policy of free and easy immigration. At the same time, the mainstream is vacillating between demonizing the far right and pandering to its prejudices. Even in Germany, there have been marches by the mainstream parties to protest crimes attributed to immigrants in which pro-Nazi slogans were raised.

It is true that immigration affects the social tissue of a country and puts pressure on limited resources. It is also true that some migrants exacerbate matters by refusing to integrate with the host society, preferring to live alongside other migrants. The link between some immigrants and crime has been a potent narrative for the far-right, ably assisted by a prejudiced local media.

As if all this is not discomforting enough in itself, the established parties has allowed the far right to dominate the debate on immigration. This should top. They should not forget how the West is responsible for some of the war and political strife which is sparking a massive wave of immigration to Europe from North Africa and the Middle East.