Swedish was recognized as the official language of Sweden in 2009, with the new Language Law (Swedish Code of Statutes 2009:600), a law that also guarantees the use of Swedish as the language of Swedish government agencies and other public institutions, including universities and museums. Rules on the use of the Swedish language in the legislation on radio, TV, and in public administration have existed for a long time. According to the agreement between the centre-right government coalition and the Sweden Democrats party, knowledge of the Swedish language will be introduced as a requirement for citizenship, as well as included in various other regulations on government programmes relating to integration and support for immigrants.
In 1999, a law was made entitling individuals to use Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli in dealings with administrative authorities and courts of law in localities in which these languages continue to be used. The law also requires municipalities to offer pre-school activities, as well as care for the elderly, in national minority languages, i.e., Sami (all varieties), Finnish, Meänkieli, Yiddish, and Romani Chib. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was ratified by Sweden in January 2000 with regard to these minority languages. Sami, Finnish, and Meänkieli were also recognized as having further rights in specific regions of the country. Swedish sign language has also been declared an official language (SFS 2009:724).
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