STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – The euro crisis is biting Sweden, but for senior government officials like Thomas Olofsson there is cautious confidence the economy has the tools to fend off the worst of a gathering economic storm.

“In the corridors of government there is not so much concern on our own behalf,” said Olofsson, who is head of debt management funding at the National Debt Office. “But one way or another, it’s (the euro zone crisis) an ugly thing to look at.”

BERGEN, Norway (Reuters) – Finding no easy options abroad, a few hundred unemployed Spaniards have risked frostbite in wealthy Norway, where the press call them “euro refugees”. Others head south to Morocco, where they hope to stay warm at least until Europe’s economic crisis has passed.

Patricia Morales, a 26-year old unemployed PE instructor from Madrid, spent her first night staring into space in a bare hostel room after flying into the windswept port town of Bergen last summer. She found night work at a fish processing plant after weeks of cleaning work and souvenir sales. Now, in a country enriched by oil and gas, she cuts and packages supermarket sushi meals.