Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has condemned the behavior of activists following recent Palestinian demonstrations in Sweden. The protests, which coincided with the opening of the Swedish Parliament, have sparked a political debate, with government officials urging opposition parties to distance themselves from extremist actions.
Swedish Prime Minister Criticizes Activists Amidst Palestinian Protests
Activists Ignore Ulf Kristersson
"We cannot have all the world's conflicts on our streets and squares," says the Prime Minister. Yet, it seems otherwise.
The ceremonies surrounding the opening of the Parliament were framed in the same way as many other public gatherings in Sweden nowadays: with Palestinian demonstrations.
On Tuesday, everything seemed to proceed calmly and orderly. However, it was a different story on Monday evening when a noisy crowd followed Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M) through the alleys of Gamla Stan.
Monday's incident had significant repercussions on Tuesday.
"Extremely serious," commented Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M).
"In Sweden, we do not behave in that manner."
Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (M), who has herself been targeted by activists, attacked the Social Democrats and the Left Party.
Magdalena Andersson (S) and Nooshi Dadgostar (V) should stop "indirectly fueling" the "extremely dangerous forces" and instead take a clear stance, argued Malmer Stenergard.
Taking a stance is, of course, good and reasonable. But is it enough?
Indeed, distancing oneself from aggressive loudmouths is good and reasonable. But is it enough?
The problem is that the loudmouths in question do not care about "messages" from Ulf Kristersson, that Magdalena Andersson distances herself, or even that Ebba Busch writes about the values we should have in Sweden.
The effect is roughly the same as when former Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) repeatedly stated that gang murders on open streets were "unacceptable"—that is, none at all.
The incidents recur, time and again, not least right next to the Parliament House.
"This must be stopped," the Prime Minister asserted on Tuesday.
Which naturally raises the follow-up question: How?
No concrete answer to that question was provided in Tuesday's government declaration.
However, we once again heard that "we cannot have all the world's conflicts on our streets and squares."
Yet, it seems just so.
Viktor Barth-Kron is a political commentator at Expressen.