Arin Karapet

Karapet was born in Spånga in 1988 to an Armenian family and was raised in Rinkeby and Hässelby. Karapet has described his upbringing as motivating his interest in politics, stating that his father was addicted to drugs while his mother was unemployed. He has defined himself as a conservative liberal.^[1]

After working in the insurance sector he joined the youth-league of the Moderate Party and was elected to the Riksdag during the 2018 Swedish general election. In parliament, he has campaigned for recognition of the Armenian genocide and has called for international condemnation of violence against Christians in the Middle East.^[2][3] In 2022, he led a delegation of Riksdag politicians to meet with the Armenian Prime Minister.^[4]

Karapet has been a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe since 2023.^[5] He was a substitute member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2019 to 2022, and a delegate to the Inter-Parliamentary Union from 2022 to 2023.^[5]

In 2026, Karapet left the Moderate Party and joined the Sweden Democrats after saying that he agreed more with the SD's policy on immigration and integration.^[6]