Sweden's former prime minister rips Bernie Sanders' Soviet Union praise

Could the people who say Bernie is NOT a socialist explain his praise of communist USSR in 1988? I think he was mayor in Lefty utopia Vermont at the time. I guess he had to hide his past to get elected to Congress.

Today Bernie praises Sweden and Denmark, but their leaders don't think much of him.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/feb/25/swedens-former-prime-minister-rips-bernie-sanders-/

In 2015, Denmark Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen slammed Mr. Sanders for associating his country with socialism.

“The Nordic model is an expanded welfare state which provides a high level of security to its citizens, but it is also a successful market economy with much freedom to pursue your dreams and live your life as you wish,” Mr. Rasmussen said at the time, Independent Journal Review reported.
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Mr. Bildt, who served as Sweden’s prime minister from 1991 to 1994, tweeted in response: “Bernie Sanders was lucky to be able to get to the Soviet Union in 1988 and praise all its stunning socialist achievements before the entire system and empire collapsed under the weight of its own spectacular failures.”