A far-right group has organized a demonstration demanding the expulsion of Muslims from Sweden. The group, which gathered in Odenplan and marched towards Sergels Torg in Stockholm, chanted slogans such as “We don’t want Muslims in our country” and called for the banning of Islam in Sweden.
Meanwhile, the Stockholm Anti-Fascist Association organized a counter-protest against racism and discrimination in the same area, with activists carrying banners and chanting slogans such as “No racism in our streets,” “No one is illegal,” and “Everyone has the right to live in Sweden.” There were occasional tensions between the two groups, but police intervention prevented any major incidents from occurring.
Concerns about far-right violence in Sweden are increasing, and recent reports from research centers and security agencies indicate that new Nazi groups in the “Nordic Resistance Movement” (NMR), an umbrella organization for neo-Nazis in Scandinavian countries and Finland, continue to target foreigners, left-wing activists, and anti-racism advocates.
According to a report by researchers from the Segerstedt Institute at the University of Gothenburg in southwest Sweden released last Wednesday, the concern about signs of extreme violence coincides with Sweden’s struggle with deadly violence from gangs competing over the illegal markets, which places this Scandinavian country at the forefront of Western European countries in terms of the spread of far-right violence.
Local media in Stockholm reported that the renewed violence over the past few years is once again placing Sweden in the worst situation in Western Europe in terms of individual deadly violence perpetrated by elements from far-right extremist environments.
