Minister's Close Relative Involved in Neo-Nazi Activities – Säpo Uninformed

A close relative of a minister in the Swedish government is reportedly an active neo-Nazi, according to the anti-racist magazine Expo.

The magazine reports that the individual has taken an increasingly active role in the Swedish far-right over the past year.

Among other activities, the person has attempted to recruit others into the neo-Nazi organization Det fria Sverige.

Through social media accounts, the individual claims to have participated in several activities with the neo-Nazi group Aktivklubb Sverige, associated with a member of the Nordic Resistance Movement, and put up far-right stickers, including one with the words “white zone” in their residential area.

Säpo: “Young People Often Attracted by Violence”

The latest contact reported by Expo was with Aktivklubb Sverige.

So-called activist clubs are a relatively new type of far-right group in Sweden, attracting members with activities like martial arts.

– Young people are often attracted by violence as an ideology, while the radicalization process is accelerating. Besides online issues, activist clubs within violent right-wing extremism are a growing phenomenon in Europe, particularly attracting younger individuals, says Fredrik Hallström, operational chief at Säpo, in Säpo's latest threat report against Sweden.

In an intelligence report from 2023, the police wrote that Aktivklubb Sverige's network “is assessed to have access to weapons and explosives and actively works to improve its combat capabilities,” writes Expo.

The police also wrote, in the same report, that “there is information indicating that the network is mapping government officials to exert influence.”

Taking a More Leading Role

The minister's close relative has several anonymous social media accounts, where they share and interact with far-right content in various ways.

One of the accounts is more private, followed by the minister and other relatives. The account is also used to contact far-right extremists.

Among the followers, and those the account follows, are several far-right extremists, writes Expo.

Expo reports that the close relative has taken an increasingly leading role in a chat group for the neo-Nazi Det fria Sverige. The person has, among other things, taken responsibility for organizing meetings.

Last autumn, the person wrote about plans to participate in Aktivklubb Sverige's demonstration in Kungsträdgården on the anniversary of King Charles XII's death.

Reports: Säpo Unaware

Last winter, the person also wrote in internal Nazi chats:

“The imported violence must go.”

“Time for us Europeans to fight back.”

When an NMR activist posted about being charged with assault and illegal threats, the minister's close relative responded with:

“Freedom for nationalists!”

However, Säpo is reportedly unaware of the individual, according to Expo's information.

Security Expert: “Astonishing”

Security protection expert Kim Hakkarainen, with a background in Military Intelligence and Security Service, is surprised that the minister does not seem to have informed Säpo about the situation.

– If the Security Police do not have this information – it is quite astonishing, actually, he tells Expo.

– It is serious. That is a good summary word for it: Serious.

– It is a vulnerability that can be exploited by an antagonist, such as other states or other antagonistic actors who want to harm Sweden by influencing or using the minister's relative as an enabler.

Säpo: “Very Limited”

After Expo contacted the minister's staff about the relative, the account settings were changed, and access was restricted.

Expressen has sought comments from the government's acting security chief, Emma Degerfeldt, who has no comments.

“We have no comments and refer all questions to our press service,” writes the security department in a text message.

Säpo cannot comment on whether they were aware of the information.

– It is well known that we at Säpo are generally very limited in what we can say regarding the personal protection of the central state leadership. When it comes to what information we have or do not have, related to work with these individuals, it is something we cannot discuss at all, says Johan Wikström, spokesperson at Säpo, to Expressen.