The Christian Democrats are investing heavily in rural issues ahead of the Riksdag vigil next year.

They want to become a party for the "heart country" according to their own rhetoric and now hope to be able to attract rural voters to the right-wing conservative bloc - including from the Center Party.

- A vote for the Center Party is a vote for the Green Party and it is bad for the countryside, says Ebba Busch.

Lööf: A vote for SD

However, this is a description that center leader Annie Lööf turns to.

- A vote for the Christian Democrats is a vote for the Sweden Democrats with that rhetoric.

The countryside does not need more rhetoric and more new lands as heartland.

You need concrete solutions.

Annie Lööf mentions that the Center Party has made billions in investments in, among other things, agriculture and forestry.

- We make major investments in maintaining the sandwiches and grocery stores, because these are important meeting points.

- When talking about rural politics, it is important to invest in infrastructure.

We spend three billion more on broadband than KD, for example.

Busch: Lets MP control

However, Ebba Busch maintains that the Center Party has not succeeded in pursuing a rural-friendly policy during the years it has acted as a support party for the government.

- What has been the result of these last seven years.

Listen to the rural voters, they are not happy.

- You have placed yourself in the middle of Swedish politics.

The result of your rural profile has been that the Green Party has been able to control what has happened to forests and agriculture, for example, she says.

Gas prices

An issue that is often painted as important for rural voters is fuel prices.

On Wednesday, the diesel price passed SEK 19 per liter and petrol is starting to approach SEK 18 per liter.

But lowering the tax on petrol is not an option for either Ebba Busch or Annie Lööf.

- We have chosen to prioritize an increase in mileage compensation.

It is very expensive to reduce the tax on petrol and diesel - to reduce it by one kroner costs seven billion, says Ebba Busch.

Annie Lööf believes that a reduction in the petrol tax would primarily benefit metropolitan regions rather than rural municipalities.

- In the big cities, you travel several miles by car.

If you lower the petrol tax by one kroner, Stockholm, for example, gets 13 times more than Jämtland.

See the whole debate in Aktuellt.