Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has allowed the far-right Sweden Democrats to inflame the Quran-burning crisis, Sweden’s former prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party, Magdalena Andersson, said after a joint press conference where she denounced his handling of the crisis.
The first party leaders’ debate after the summer recess began with a major political debate in the Swedish parliament on Tuesday.
Among the many debates that took place, Anderson stood out with her speech criticising Kristersson’s complacency towards the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD), which supports the governing centre-right coalition.
“Threats and hatred are being fuelled by the largest party in the government’s support base,” said Andersson, referring directly to SD during the joint press conference.
“After a year with the SD government, we can conclude that Sweden has become more dangerous, and the Swedish people have become poorer,” she added.
In late August, a 37-year-old Iraqi refugee named Salwan Momika burned a copy of the Quran in a public square in Norrköping. The act sparked widespread protests and condemnation from Muslim communities in Sweden and around the world, and in some cases, violence, as the Swedish embassy was stormed in the summer.
The Quran burning crisis has highlighted growing tensions between Muslim and non-Muslim communities in Sweden and raised questions about the limits of freedom of expression and the right to offend religious sensibilities.
But the former prime minister’s words were strongly criticised by Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats.
“It is so incredibly shameful and incredibly unworthy of a former prime minister and finance minister not to take any responsibility for the chaos that has been created in this country,” he said, visibly angry at the accusations levelled at him.
Åkesson referred in particular to the immigration policies of the previous governments in which Andersson was a member, adding that the Social Democrats had deliberately pursued a policy of division and segregation.
Andersson, for her part, warns that an image of Sweden as intolerant and hateful is now spreading, which not only affects Sweden’s NATO process and Swedish companies abroad but also the security of Swedes.
She also called on Kristersson to work with other parties in parliament instead of the SD to remedy the situation.
Immigration and ethnic gang crime were among the main concerns of Swedes in the last general election a year ago, helping to make the far-right SD the second-largest party in Sweden and leading to the Social Democrats losing power after eight years.
(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)
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