Civil Affairs Minister Erik Slottner calls Björn Söder’s Pride outing “humiliating and offensive”.
At the same time, he states that the government’s cooperation with the Sweden Democrats is not affected by the statement.
– It is not SD that has made these statements but an individual member, he tells TV4 Nyheterna.
SD leader Björn Söder’s statement about Pride, where he draws parallels between Pride and pedophilia, has received harsh criticism on Saturday. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson calls the statement “grotesque” and Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (M) says that the act is “despicable, undignified and wrong”.
At the same time, the opposition is calling on the prime minister and the government parties to end cooperation with the Sweden Democrats.
– It is a party whose business idea is to divide our country, increase the contradictions and pit man against man, and group against group, says Magdalena Andersson.
The Minister for Civil Affairs: “Does not affect”
Now Civil Affairs Minister Erik Slottner (KD) states that the cooperation with SD is not affected by Björn Söder’s statement.
– It is not SD that has made these statements, but an individual member. The government cooperates with the Sweden Democrats on a number of areas that are regulated in the Tidö Agreement and his statements do not affect that cooperation, he tells TV4 Nyheterna during the Pride parade.
– These are troubling statements that we see, but our cooperation is based on six policy areas and this is not covered by the Tidö collaboration. From that point of view, it matters less. But it is still serious that a Member of Parliament speaks out in this way.
“Important to show that we are not behind”
Erik Slottner emphasizes that he strongly distances himself from the actions of the SD top. He calls the statement “humiliating and offensive”.
– It’s a terrible play, he says.
– All the more important for us to be here and show that we are not behind it.