The leader of a Swedish populist party that has long campaigned to get a referendum on European Union membership for the nation said Tuesday that the punitive tactics of the European Union are enough for him to reconsider wanting to leave the EU — for now.

The leader of the populist, anti-mass migration party the Sweden Democrats Jimmie Åkesson made the remarks on Swedish radio Tuesday morning, saying “clearly the EU does its utmost to complicate Britain’s departure.”

Sweden ‘Cannot Forgive’ UK Politicians For ‘Historic Mistake’ of Allowing Brexit https://t.co/WwYVW5KR7a — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 31, 2019

Yet rather than working harder to pull his country out of its relationship with this abusive partner, which has apparently stopped at no length to frustrate the United Kingdom since it voted to leave in 2016, Mr Åkesson said his party would now wait to see how Brexit panned out before continuing its campaign to achieve a Swedish In-Out referendum.

Åkesson said, “It would be irresponsible for Sweden to leave before knowing how it goes with Britain,” reports the Associated Press.

The comments by the Swedish nationalist, who became the nation’s youngest party leader aged 26 in 2005 and is known for modernising a party previously associated with its hard-right post-war roots into a modern populist force which is now the third largest party in the country, will cheer EU leaders who have worked tirelessly to use Brexit to warn other nations against leaving the Union.

Sweden’s PM Issues Brexit Threat to UK Over Planned Corporation Tax Cut https://t.co/u4ZphkqzHM pic.twitter.com/t5c6nJmlbK — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 22, 2016

Among those insiders who have warned that the European Union will do everything to punish Britain as a warning to others is senior Germany politician Hans-Olaf Henkel who said EU Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt is an “ambitious politician who wants to achieve a United States of Europe” and would “punish the British, full stop”.

He added, “My impression is that Mr Barnier wants to do the same… The reason is simple. They would seek to make sure that Brexit is such a catastrophe that no country dares to take the step of leaving the EU again”, reported the Daily Telegraph in 2017.

His comments were followed by German diplomat Thomas Matussek who said months later: “We are aiming for a Brexit which is as soft as possible but a Brexit which is hard as necessary in order to discourage others to follow the British example, mainly, to try to have the cake and eat it. Which we wouldn’t allow.”

Sweden Democrats Leader Backs Trump and Brexit, Stating 'Nothing Negative' About Leaving EU https://t.co/C7oiyUnLr8 pic.twitter.com/cE7uxenySA — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 7, 2016

Mr Åkesson’s comments come as a sort of clarification of his party’s position on the European Union, days after one of his Members of the European Parliament grabbed headlines by being the first to say the party no longer wanted to campaign for a referendum on EU membership.

SVT reported last week on the remarks of Peter Lundgren who was speaking of the forthcoming EU elections, where populist, border control parties are expected to make significant gains.

He said: “For the first time, there is a real chance of reforming the EU from within. It is also what we will work for during the coming term of office, and also what we will drive in the election movement.

“We always say that we are a pragmatic party, we try to relate to reality and to what it looks like. When we now see that we can participate and reform from within, we see it as a better alternative to try.”

Oliver JJ Lane is the editor of Breitbart London — Follow him on Twitter and Facebook