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Europe

French experts say Sweden has become a base for jihadist gangs

2025-05-29

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Victor Lavrinenko

[REGNUM] Recently, an expert report on the activities of the extremist group Muslim Brotherhood (an organization banned in the Russian Federation) in the EU, prepared at the request of the French government, was published. The strengthening of Islamist extremists is observed not only in France itself, but also in some other EU countries,

The authors of a report prepared for the French government warn that the extremist Muslim Brotherhood* movement has gained a foothold in the country, threatening both the values of local secular society and the safety of ordinary citizens.

It has been estimated that the group controls at least 200 mosques in France and has hundreds of subsidiaries.

The report stresses that the further growth of the influence of radical Islamism will have devastating consequences for the country.

At the same time, the document did not ignore the situation in other EU countries, where Islamists feel especially at ease. First of all, Sweden was named among these countries, where, according to French experts, very favorable conditions have been created for Islamic radicals.

Indeed.

Sweden is mentioned in the report several times, and it is noted that it is the active branch of the Muslim Brotherhood* that has established itself in this Scandinavian country.

The report explains this as follows: “The favourable position of the Muslim Brotherhood* in Sweden is explained by the great tolerance of Swedish multiculturalism and the good relations between the movement and local political parties, especially the Swedish Social Democrats.”

SWEDEN'S REACTION
In Sweden itself, the report did not go unnoticed.

Local Labour Minister Mats Persson has announced that he is putting together his own expert group to draw up a full picture of the spread of radical Islamism in the country.

Run a search of the Rantburg archives, your Excellency. There you’ll find much of what you need to get started.

Persson threatens that he will not let this go so easily: "We will cut off foreign funding for religious communities, especially where foreign countries finance radical mosques."

The Swedish Social Democratic Party is alarmed - they deny that they have supported or assisted extremists in any way.

On the contrary.

Party Secretary Tobias Bodin justifies himself: "We have zero tolerance for connections with extremist organizations."

“Call them something else, though, and we’re good to go!”

It should be noted that in the spring of 2023, the Social Democrats were already harshly criticized for the fact that their MP Jamal El-Hajj took part in a conference organized by the Palestinian organization Hamas.

See?

The Social Democrats then asked El Hadj to "take a break" from his parliamentary duties, but did not expel him from the party. However, a year later, the Swedish press revealed that the deputy had tried to obtain refugee status in Sweden for a certain Egyptian imam whose sermons were openly extremist. Only then did the Social Democrats ask their disgraced colleague to leave the party.

At the same time, the Swedes remember how the “social democrats”, in the name of their misunderstood “tolerance”, while they headed the government from 2014 to 2022, opened the country’s doors wide to migrants from “third world” countries.

It is not surprising that Sweden was the third country in Europe after Belgium and Austria from which the largest number of Muslims left to fight for the Islamic State*.

Definitely not surprising, no, except that France is lower on the list.

DEFENSE UNIVERSITY REPORTS
Experts have been sounding the alarm about the radicalization of Sweden's Muslim community for a long time. Back in 2018,

…alarms were sounded considerably earlier than that…

the local Defense University prepared a study on the increase in the number of Salafists in the country — supporters of "pure" Islam, advocating, in particular, for jihad against "infidels."

One of the most famous Salafi jihadists was, in particular, Osama bin Laden. Salafis advocate for the restriction of women's rights, and many of them also insist on not having friends among the "infidels" and keeping communication with them to a minimum.

At the same time, as noted at the university, radicalization often goes hand in hand with ethnic crime. Criminals really like to imagine themselves as “warriors for the faith” - this is how they justify their own actions in their own eyes.

"A gang of bastards walk into a grocery store. If the cashier isn't wearing a hijab, they take whatever they want without paying. They call the cashier a 'Swedish whore' and spit at her," says a police officer from the city of Västerås.

"Often young Muslims ask Syrians and Kurds, restaurant or shop owners, about their religion. If the answer is 'not Islam', they are persecuted. We have also seen Muslims as young as 10 or 12 say to older Swedish women: 'We are at home here,'" he adds.

In Gothenburg, Salafists demanded that Muslims not vote in local elections because it is "haram." The radicals threatened their fellow believers that they would answer "on the day of judgment" for all the actions of the dishonest politicians for whom they voted.

“In some areas they raised the flag of the Islamic State (an organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation),” the local police shared.

And there they told about the preacher Said Regea (a native of Somalia) who came from Canada and, speaking in one of the mosques in Gothenburg, emphasized the importance of “purity.” In order to maintain it, it is important, according to him, not to allow children to be interested in the customs of “Jews, Christians or Zoroastrians.”

Seven years ago, the Defense University emphasized that cafes and shops owned by non-Muslims periodically become victims of vandalism, and that Christian priests are threatened with beheading.

However, the radicals are no better at treating so-called "secular" Muslims who do not adhere to Salafism. They are often harshly ostracized and discriminated against in every possible way. As a result, some refugees have begun to complain that, having moved to Sweden, they are faced with scenes familiar to them from their native Iraq or Afghanistan - for example, they see three-year-old girls in niqabs.

BANDIT JIHAD
In addition, as already mentioned, experts from the Defense University noted the alarming fact of the fusion of religious radicalism and organized crime - sometimes jihadists and members of ethnic gangs join forces to make it easier to terrorize the surrounding population.

Salafis and Islamists are actively taking control of mosques and Muslim cultural associations, as well as businesses created by former refugees, forcing them to pay tribute.

At the same time, the native Swedes, for a time, simply had no idea what processes were taking place in the vicinity of their large cities, where people from Asia and Africa settled.

The police didn’t open files, the news media didn’t report about it, and the politicians kept their eyes firmly shut while piously lecturing the voters about the necessity of tolerance. And when the native Swedes tried to talk about the viciousness of thr Moslem newcomers, they were shut up, by force if necessary.

But there are areas where local legislation has lost its force: gender segregation is actively practiced; radical religious leaders order women not to complain to the authorities about their husbands’ cruelty.

The text of the study ended with criticism of the Swedish authorities for their inability to put obstacles to the spread of radical ideology. In particular, examples were given from the activities of ordinary Swedish secular schools, where the administration, having yielded to the demands of radical parents, forced girls to wear hijabs.

Seven years have passed since then, and the problem has become even more acute. And it’s not as if Sweden’s current moderate-conservative ruling coalition, which replaced the migrant-loving Social Democrats in 2022, is doing nothing at all to counter radicalism.

For example, the authorities are closing radical Islamist schools, trying to legislate against women covering their faces, tightening entry rules, and promising migrants money to return home. The trouble is, these measures are both insufficient and long overdue.

Fortunately for the Swedes, the numerous ethnic gangs do not act as a united front, otherwise the natives would have a very bad time. Criminal organizations fiercely fight each other for food supplies - they shoot and blow up competitors with enthusiasm. In this case, selfish interests are higher than empty slogans about the "unity of brothers in faith."

INVASION OF NORWAY
The fierce competition between Swedish gangs has already led to them, like a cancerous tumor, beginning to subjugate neighboring countries, in particular Norway.

The head of the local National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos), Christine Quinje, recently addressed the government with a warning about the growing threat from organised crime.

Despite all the efforts of the police, criminal networks in Norway continue to grow and develop, according to Kvinje.

And although the national budget for 2024 allocated 600 million Norwegian kroner (52 million euros) to combat organised crime, according to Kvinje, this has not produced tangible results.

She seriously fears that organised crime will grow to such proportions that it “will threaten democracy and the welfare state and will cause destabilisation of society.”

A characteristic feature of Swedish gangs is the hiring of minors, who do not face the same harsh penalties as adults. According to police, the number of underage robbers in Oslo has doubled between 2023 and 2024.

And in Norway in 2023, 21,800 criminal cases were initiated against minors, which is 28% more than in 2022. The Norwegian publication Aftenposten writes that more and more criminal elements are now appearing in this country, having managed to “leave their mark” in Sweden.

According to Norwegian police inspector Yngve Myrvoll, branches of the Swedish gangs Foxtrot and Gottsunda have emerged in the country, actively recruiting young people. These gangs are involved in large-scale drug trafficking and various fraudulent operations.

Foxtrot's presence in Norway was widely reported after a powerful explosion rocked the streets of the local town of Drøbak last October. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but police suspected attempted murder.

Experts noted that this is a typical “Swedish manner” – it is members of Swedish criminal groups who have recently taken to blowing up competitors in the criminal business right in their homes.

These suspicions were confirmed during the investigation - it turned out that the explosion was carried out by members of Foxtrot.

Since then, members of this network have given Norwegians many more reasons to speak ill of them. The criminals who came from Sweden, who so often like to pose as "true Muslims", make Norway forget that until recently it was considered a peaceful and safe country.,

Posted by:badanov

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