Mark Collett, a prominent British far-right activist, was denied entry into Sweden at Arlanda Airport. He was scheduled to speak at a nationalist event but was stopped by police, citing him as a threat to public order. Collett criticized the treatment he received, claiming he was stranded for over 25 hours before being sent back to the UK.
British Extremist Barred from Entering Sweden at Arlanda Airport
British Extremist Barred from Entering Sweden at Arlanda Airport
British Far-Right Leader Stopped at Arlanda
Mark Collett, 44, leads the British far-right group Patriotic Alternative and has been a prominent activist in the white power movement for over 20 years.
He arrived in Sweden on Friday to speak at the group Det fria Sverige's summer event in Älgarås, Töreboda municipality in Västra Götaland. The meeting was to be held at Svenskarnas hus, owned by the group.
Stopped by Police
However, he got no further than Arlanda, where he was stopped by police. He was denied entry into Sweden on the grounds that he is "a threat to public order, the structure of society, and the values on which Sweden and Europe are built," according to his own statement on Telegram.
Mark Collett writes that Swedish police took his passport and that he spent more than a day in the departure hall at Arlanda without getting his passport or access to his luggage back.
"Now I am back in the UK and safely on my way home. After being stranded for more than 25 hours at the airport, two police officers finally came and said it was time to leave. They escorted me to a gate and ensured I boarded a direct flight home," he writes on Telegram.
Critical of the Treatment
He is critical of how he was treated and writes that "no European country would have treated an illegal migrant in this way." He also writes that he was banned from entering Sweden, the rest of the EU, and the Schengen zone "for 15 years."
"Mark Collett is a notorious Nazi activist with a long-standing involvement in open Nazism," says Morgan Finnsjö, a researcher at the anti-racist foundation Expo, to P4 Skaraborg.
Det fria Sverige was founded in 2017. The leading figures have a long history in Nazi organizations, including the Swedish Resistance Movement, now called the Nordic Resistance Movement, and the Party of the Swedes.