2023-11-27T16:06:26+00:00
A-
A
A+
/ Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, responded to the call of the leader of the far-right party supporting his government, after the latter called for the demolition of some mosques, describing the latter’s statements as “lack of respect and provoke polarization.”
Sweden Democrats leader Jimmy Åkesson called for some mosques to be confiscated and razed to the ground, during a speech at his party’s annual conference.
“We have to start by confiscating and demolishing mosques where anti-democratic, anti-Swedish, anti-LGBTQ, anti-Semitic or generally misleading propaganda is being spread,” Åkesson said.
On Monday, Kristersson, whose coalition government does not include the Sweden Democrats but relies on his support, described the comments as “lack of respect.”
“I think it’s a disrespectful and polarizing way of expression,” he told SVT.
“This misrepresents what Sweden stands for internationally,” he added.
Åkesson’s speech sparked anger in Sweden and abroad, and forced Kristersson to issue a statement on the “X” platform in which he stressed the “constitutional right to religious freedom” in Sweden.
He said, “In Sweden, we do not demolish places of worship. We as a society must resist violent extremism, whatever its justifications, but we will do so within the framework of a democratic state and the rule of law.”
In turn, former Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson called on the current Prime Minister to dismiss all Sweden Democrats officials working in government offices in Stockholm.
She said via “X” that this type of statement “harms Sweden’s image, does not facilitate our application for NATO membership, and exacerbates polarization in our country,” noting that making these statements reflects “a failure to give priority to the security and safety of Sweden and the Swedish people.”
Sweden, whose application to join NATO is still awaiting approval by Hungary and Turkey, witnessed a series of events that sparked tension with countries in the Middle East.
The burning of the Qur’an on several occasions this year led to the outbreak of protests and condemnations of Sweden, while several countries in the Middle East summoned envoys from the Scandinavian country.
Iraqi demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, and set fire to the compound the second time.
Last year, Sweden was targeted by a widespread disinformation campaign in which it was claimed that the social services agency was “kidnapping Muslim children” and moving them to Christian homes, prompting the authorities to issue an official denial.