The Minister for Gender Equality is terrified of bananas

Published 14 November 2024 at 11.41

Domestic. Equality Minister Paulina Brandberg (L) says she suffers from a paralyzing fear – of bananas. To avoid the minister being exposed to discomfort, all spaces she visits must be carefully “secured” so that they are free of bananas, Expressen reports.

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The Minister and the Bananas

• Forced to go 46 floors to throw the runway at the minister

“It is something that I get professional help with,” writes Paulina Brandberg in a comment to Expressen.

In documents from the Department of Labor and Employment it appears that Paulina Brandberg's employees take the minister's fear of bananas very seriously.

They have carefully made sure that the places the Prime Minister will visit are 100 percent banana-free. The employees have on these occasions claimed that Paulina Brandberg has a “strong allergy”, even though she herself now admits that she is not allergic to bananas, but just afraid of them.

Before a “VIP lunch” at Earlier this year, the Norwegian Judicial Agency demanded that her team “no bananas be allowed” in premises where the minister stays, according to Expressen.

Similar requests were made before a coffee with Speaker Andreas Norlén in September, where it was expressly requested that “no traces of bananas” be found in the meeting space. The speaker's staff responded quickly, removing fruit baskets of bananas from nearby spaces to meet the demands.

Brandberg has openly shared her fear of bananas on social media, describing it as “the world's weirdest phobia.”

When she is asked about the phobia in connection with a humor feature on SVT: “Svenska nyheter” – where bananas were used as a humorous reference – she says that it is like a “sort of allergy” but avoids going into details.

In a later written response to Expressen, however, she confirms that it is a “phobia”.

Paulina Brandberg does not want to answer whether she thinks it is appropriate for the employees to demand banana-free spaces, citing that she is allergic to bananas even though she is not.

– So, this is something that moves me as a person. I think it may be, she tells Expressen.

Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) attacks Expressen's article about the ministerial colleague in a post on X. She calls the publication “a real low-water mark”:

What is Expressen thinking here? Just like people in general, politicians can struggle with fears, phobias and anxiety. If it does not affect the work, is it a public interest that “requires public lighting”? This is truly a true low water mark. https://t.co/ke9mYhzmDU

— Elisabeth Svantesson (@ElisabethSvan) November 13, 2024