Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) is satisfied after the conversation he had on Thursday with representatives from all eight parties in the Riksdag.
The meeting was held due to the attack in Gubbängen.
– I understand that all eight parties left the meeting in agreement – about everything, and with a common conviction about the importance of standing up for the democratic conversation and the free and open society, he says.
All eight Riksdag parties’ party secretaries participated in the conversation and all group leaders for the parties in the justice committee.
The police and Säpo also participated and described the operational work that takes place, partly on an ongoing basis and partly with a view to the EU elections.
– I understand that all eight parties left the meeting in agreement – about everything, and with a common conviction about the importance of standing up for the democratic conversation and the free and open society, says Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M).
The conversation took place because several masked men went on the attack last week during a political meeting organized by the Left Party and the Green Party in Gubbängen in southern Stockholm. But during the conversation it was also mentioned that Nazis disrupted several May Day speeches on Wednesday and set fire to EU flags.
Threats from different directions
Gunnar Strömmer raised a few things that he took note of after the conversation.
– Firstly, the realization that the threats from violent extremism come from several different directions. The violence that was practiced in Gubbängen and the sabotage that has been directed at a number of social democratic May Day meetings, seems to come from the extreme right.
But the Minister of Justice emphasizes that the threat has also increased over time from Islamists and the left.
The government will now continue its work against violent extremism and the strategy decided on in January. The work is primarily about protecting Swedish democratic institutions and the open democratic conversation.
The Left Party has demanded that Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) also invite the party leaders to a conversation about what happened. Do you see the meeting you had today as enough?
– I can only state that today we had a very good meeting with leading representatives of the government and the Riksdag. I take note of what I perceive to be a very broad consensus, both in terms of the importance of taking all possible threats seriously, whether they are far-right threats or from the autonomous left or violent extremism. We can never tolerate violence or other sabotage against the democratic conversation, says Strömmer to TV4 Nyheterna.
The text is updated.