EU CREDIT MACRO: Average Cash Moves (Source: MNI, Bloomberg Finance L.P.)

• "IRAN'S FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON SAYS JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT BY OMAN AND IRAN IN FINAL STAGE IF 'CERTAIN THIRD PARTIES' DO NOT INTERFERE" - RTRS

• "IRAN'S FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON SAYS GEOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROUTE IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ AGREED BY IRAN AND OMAN" - RTRS

With just under six weeks to go until the general election on 13 September, opinion polling shows the opposition leftist red-green parties in pole position to secure a majority in the Riksdag, ousting PM Ulf Kristersson's minority centre-right 'Tidö' administration. After a relatively sedate campaign to date, Richard Jomshof, a prominent lawmaker from the right-wing nationalist Sweden Democrats (which props up Kristersson's gov't in a confidence and supply agreement), has caused a political furore. 

• In a social media post, Jomshof referred to the political editor-in-chief of the Aftonbladet newspaper as a 'Qusling', and then doubled down using the same term for centre-left Social Democrat leader and former PM Magdalena Andersson. The term, meaning traitor, carries particular political venom in the Nordics, and is used after Norway's wartime leader Vidkun Quisling, who acted as a puppet leader during the Nazi occupation.
• Jomshof's post garnered criticism from Kristersson and  Andersson. Jomshof's party leader, Jimmie Åkesson, wrote in response that there is "no need to resort to overstatement in the [election] debate", and that this applies to Jomshof as well, adding "Overstatements tend to obscure the central message. Furthermore, debate always thrives best with objectivity and politeness." However, he concluded with: "With that said: Crocodile tears have never been more appropriate."
• Kristersson has sought to present his coalition as the 'adults in the room' during the past four-year parliamentary term in an effort to avoid accusations that by relying on Sweden Democrats' support his own centre-right Moderates had traded in political sensibility for power. 

Chart 1. General Election Opinion Polling by Party (% and 6-Poll Moving Average, LHS) and Seat Projections by Coalition (RHS)