Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] Sweden, where liberal ideology dominates, is creating a “powder magazine” with its own hands, on which it risks exploding. To redirect the discussion in a more convenient direction, the Swedish media began to claim that the arsonist of the Koran, Rasmus Paludan, was pushed to carry out blasphemous actions by "agents of Russian influence." However, Turkey's anger was not redirected.
Far-right activist from Denmark, leader of the Hard Deal party Rasmus Paludan is an inveterate provocateur - in 2018-2019 he held a series of anti-Islamic demonstrations in his homeland, burned the Koran, recorded and posted videos humiliating for Muslims. Sometimes the rallies organized by him turned into mass fights.
Now the number of radical nationalists is growing in different countries of the European Union as a natural reaction to the invasion of migrants from the third world and the creeping Islamization of Europe.
However, against the background of colleagues in the right camp, Paludan stands out for his special radicalism. After the Danish authorities began to file cases against him on charges of racism and defamation (however, he was awarded only a month of real imprisonment and two months of probation), he moved his activities to neighboring Sweden.
SWEDISH TOOTHLESSNESS
True, when Paludan announced in August 2020 an action to burn the Koran in the Swedish city of Malmö, the country's authorities quickly realized that such a dangerous "passenger" was dangerous, and he was banned from entering.
However, the toothlessness of the state turned out to be such that literally a few months later Paludan nevertheless entered Sweden. Taking advantage of the fact that his father was a Swedish citizen, he himself applied for Swedish citizenship. And, characteristically, he got it!
In April 2022, Paludan did burn the Koran in Malmö. As a result, riots broke out in the city - quite predictably. Stones were thrown at the policemen who were trying to calm the angry mob; a school and cars of completely uninvolved citizens broke out. The police eventually had to use tear gas.
The most striking thing about this is that Rasmus Paludan himself got off very lightly. Swedish Justice Minister Morgan Johansson said that Paludan supposedly has a constitutional right to express his opinion in a democratic society. And in May 2022, Paludan was allowed to hold public meetings of his supporters in Turkey.
True, his actions became the subject of a preliminary investigation, since Paludan was suspected of " inciting hatred against an ethnic group ." However, the investigation is extremely slow. The result of such connivance was not slow to affect: on January 21, Paludan, clicking a lighter, burned another Koran near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
The action again caused a powerful negative resonance in the world, and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reacted very vaguely - although he condemned Paludan's act, he made it clear that he did not violate any laws.
Turkey, against which this demarche was directed in the first place, made it clear that it was not ready to ratify Sweden's entry into the NATO alliance.
"If Sweden does not show respect for Turkey and Muslims, then there will be no support on the NATO issue from our side. Those who allowed such a disgrace at our embassy can no longer expect goodwill from us," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
He also accused the Swedes of breaking their promise - Stockholm has not extradited more than a hundred people in Sweden, whom Turkey considers terrorists. In this connection, conspiracy theories appeared that, in fact, the authorities were by no means eager to join the North Atlantic Alliance, hence the conniving attitude towards Paludan's activities.
MYTHICAL "AGENTS OF RUSSIA"
In order to bring down the intensity of passions and redirect them in a more desirable direction, the Swedish media began to claim that Paludan was allegedly pushed into carrying out a blasphemous action by agents of Russian influence. Like, on January 21, he burned the Koran at the direct request of journalist Chang Johannes Frick , who at one time collaborated with Ruptly, a structure of the Russia Today television channel. On this basis, Frick is now referred to in the Western press as a "pro-Kremlin activist."
But it was not possible to redirect the anger of the Turks to Russia. Erdogan spoke even more clearly: “ Sweden, don't worry. As long as you allow my holy book, the Quran, to be burned and destroyed, we will not say yes to your entry into NATO .”
These words of the Turkish leader immediately responded to the Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.
"Religion is not part of the NATO membership agreement. I understand perfectly well that people are offended by the burning of scriptures and take it as a deep insult. This is fair, but this is no reason not to let us into NATO. Sweden will not compromise on freedom of speech," Billström said.
Paludan found followers, the same right-wing radicals, like himself. But now the Swedish law enforcement agencies, frightened by the prospect of another riot, began to act a little tougher. In February, the police in Stockholm twice denied permission to publicly burn the Koran, near the Turkish and Iraqi embassies.
The police explained that previous burnings of the holy book of Muslims " created a threat to the security of Sweden ." Law enforcement officers felt that if the burning of the Koran was allowed, the risk of riots and terrorist attacks would increase.
By the way, the US embassy then also warned its citizens in Sweden about the increased danger of terrorist attacks.
However, this police decision was criticized and challenged in court. And in April, by decision of the Swedish Administrative Court, the police ban was officially lifted.
"The administrative court does not consider that the circumstances that served as the basis for the refusal of the police department are sufficient ,” the court said. The Court notes that such prohibitions can only take place "if it is necessary to ensure order and security directly at the place of the demonstration."
The court also ruled that the decision of the police to cancel a demonstration in the city of Norrköping in April last year, when Rasmus Paludan announced another burning of the Koran, was also wrong.
This court verdict was predictably negatively reacted in Turkey. “ Burning the Quran is a hate crime. The burning of the Koran cannot be allowed under the pretext of freedom of speech. Such actions provoke the wrath of two billion Muslims and must be stopped," Erdogan stressed.
And Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu went further and compared Sweden to Nazi Germany.
"The Nazis started by burning books, then attacked places of worship. And then they gathered people into camps and burned them to achieve their ultimate goals. This is how things like this start," Cavusoglu told Turkish media.
As for Paludan, he complains that he is currently receiving as a "reward" for his "exploits" a huge number of messages with death wishes for himself. Concerned about his safety, he left Sweden.
MINE AND FUSE
At the same time, which is typical, a significant part of the Swedes do not particularly approve of such things. Although the results of a recent survey on this topic were quite contradictory.
51% of Swedes believe that the burning of religious scriptures should be "prohibited by law", while 34% believe that it "should not be allowed". At the same time, 55% believe that the law should allow the publication of images that offend religious symbols. It also turned out that 54% of those surveyed believe that " it is more important to be able to express your opinion than to protect the scriptures from encroachment."
Such results, by the way, disappointed Paludan, who called the Swedes "stupid people" who did not understand, they say, his goals.
"I will only win if the Swedes see the light, but that hasn't happened yet," he sid.
He refuses to return to the country. "I will not go to Sweden for the foreseeable future. It has to do with security. Everything is bad all over Sweden, except for Stockholm. But acting only in Stockholm, if you are going to win the elections, is hardly enough," said Rasmus Paludan.
At the same time, he called the publications of the Swedish press “ridiculous” in which they tried to tie him to the Russian PMC “Wagner” – allegedly he is “friends” with some of its representatives on social networks. “ It's totally funny. The account they are analyzing has nothing to do with me. It looks more like the Swedish television people created this profile themselve," said Paludan, who has repeatedly denied any ties to Russia.
To understand how explosive Paludan's actions are, one must know that at the beginning of 2023, at least 34.62% of the inhabitants of Sweden are of foreign origin. Of people aged 35 to 44, this is about 44.12%, of those aged 25 to 34, 41.19%, and of children aged 5 to 9, 40.37%. The largest proportion of the population is made up of immigrants in large cities such as Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg.
At the same time, the real share of residents of foreign origin may be significantly higher than indicated in the documents of the state statistical office. After all, third-generation immigrants are already counted as ordinary Swedes, since in Sweden it is forbidden to keep statistics on an ethnic basis.
Most of the "new Swedes" recently "come in large numbers" from Syria, Eritrea, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. This is causing more and more concern in the country. The current government has said it wants to tighten the requirements for granting Swedish citizenship.
And in this regard, how can one characterize the verdict of the court that lifted the ban on burning the Koran? Only as a clear "crossbow", due to liberal dogma, elevated in Sweden to the position of the dominant ideology. This ideology is destroying the state: on the one hand, it opens the door wide to visiting Muslims, and on the other hand, it allows them to mock symbols that are sacred to them with impunity.
The Swedish state creates a “powder keg” with its own hands, on which it itself runs the risk of exploding. And it will no longer be possible to blame "Moscow's agents of influence" for this. Otherwise, one would have to assume that Moscow managed to get its agents appointed as employees of the Swedish Administrative Court.
April 10, 2023
Viktor Lavrinenko
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