Browsing: Sweden

Turkey’s parliament is widely expected to approve Sweden’s NATO membership bid on Tuesday, clearing the biggest remaining hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance after 20 months of delays.

It’s been described as a bombshell moment. The upper echelons of Sweden’s government and defence forces last week shocked the nation by explicitly warning that war might come to Sweden, and that each and every Swede should prepare themselves. While some have taken the warning seriously and flocked to the stores to stock up on fuel and survival kits, others have accused the country’s leaders of fear-mongering.

The cause of the accident is still unclear.

The war in Ukraine has forced a major rethink in European security, with both Sweden and Finland abandoning their long-standing policy of non-alignment and applying for NATO membership last year. But while Finland was admitted into NATO this April, delays have persisted on Sweden’s entry, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan linking a serious of unrelated issues to Ankara’s ratification of Sweden’s accession – the latest of which is a potential sale of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. We discuss what Sweden’s entry to NATO would actually mean with Sweden’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.

Denmark’s parliament on Thursday adopted a law criminalising the “inappropriate treatment” of religious texts, effectively banning Koran burnings after a series of desecrations of Islam’s holy book sparked anger in Muslim countries over the summer.

Sweden said Tuesday it wanted to introduce new requirements that would allow the deportation of asylum-seekers and immigrants for substance abuse, association with criminal groups or statements threatening Swedish values. 

But it comes with its own health risks, say experts.

Brussels shooting: Police shoot dead attacker who killed Swedes A man has been shot dead after he killed two Swedish…

A man was arrested by officers at the scene in the city of Malmö

This is the disturbing moment a man was wrestled to the ground by police during the latest Quran burning incident in Scandinavia.

Salwan Momika, a refugee living in Stockholm, has been making headlines over his repeated acts of desecration of the book, causing a diplomatic row between many Muslim countries and Sweden.

A large police presence was on site at Värnhemstorget, a main square in the city of Malmö, today where he again set fire to the Quran.

At least 200 people gathered – most protesting against his actions – after he was given permission by authorities, according to local media.

Several attempts were made by the crowd to approach Momika, resulting in the demonstration ending earlier than planned. 

Footage from SVT showed officers wrestling with a man before he was detained and taken away.

It was not immediately clear if he was a supporter of the Quran burning or from the counter-protesters.

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Swedish police have arrested two people and detained around 10 others after a violent riot broke out at a protest involving a burning of the Quran. Organised by Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, its the latest incident among protests which have sparked outrage across the Middle East.