The situation is very serious. So far, everyone is in agreement. At the press conference today, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice showed pictures where the message was that “Sweden has become a priority target for terrorist attacks”.
The two ministers also said that the government will make a decision this week on even tighter border controls. The police should be given greater powers to find and stop people who come to Sweden with the aim of committing terrorist crimes.
So far the message was clear. But when it came to what the government intends to do to stop the Koran burnings which are the reason for the increased risk of terrorist acts, neither Ulf Kristersson nor Gunnar Strömmer could give any straight answers.
The law must be changed
Strömmer gave a long lecture on the legal situation and stated that “the police today do not have the legal right to refuse permission for Koran burnings”. If the police are to be able to say no, then the law must be changed.
Does the government intend to change the law? Well, here the answers started to sway.
“We have not made any decisions about setting up an investigation into this,” said Gunnar Strömmer and continued: “but we are concretely working on what directives for such an investigation could look like.”
So – the government has not yet decided whether it wants to change the law, it has not even decided whether it should be investigated. The message stands in stark contrast to what Kristersson claimed before the election. Then he promised an effective government and “no endless investigations or half-hearted preparations”.
“That’s why Nazis can intimidate people interested in politics”
In the government’s defense, it must be said that the issue is not simple. Swedish freedom of expression is very far-reaching and we have a tradition that freedom of expression must be defended at all costs. This is why Nazis are allowed to intimidate people interested in politics in Almedalen and this is why Islam haters are allowed to burn books outside mosques.
But when the consequence of far-reaching freedom of speech can be that terrorists explode bombs and murder innocents on Swedish streets, the principles are more difficult to defend.
Is it worth the sacrifice that provocateurs should be allowed to burn holy books anywhere, or should the police be able to stop such demonstrations citing the security of the kingdom?
The government is struggling with the issue. When I asked how many years it would take, Ulf Kristersson replied:
“No, it doesn’t take many years, but I think everyone understands that, not least in a heated situation, you have to keep a cool head where you look at different possibilities. In addition, everyone who has studied five credits of political science knows that investigations are therefore required before changing laws in Sweden.”
Rejected the idea of removing Jomshof
Another hot issue, which received a lot of attention at today’s press conference, was the controversial statements made by Richard Jomshof (SD), chairman of the Riksdag’s justice committee.
The Prime Minister distanced himself from the content of Jomshof’s statements, but rejected the idea of intervening to remove Jomshof from his leading role on the committee, which several critics demanded.
“No government tells the Riksdag what to do,” Kristersson said.
And of course that’s right. In a formal sense.
But what Kristersson skipped over is that the SD got its committee positions through a settlement between the Tidö parties, before the government was formed. That SD/Jomshof would be allowed to lead the justice committee was a price the Moderates had to pay for Kristersson to become prime minister.
So certainly Ulf Kristersson could push to move Jomshof. But he doesn’t want, or can’t bear, to take that battle with Jimmie Åkesson.