Sweden and its NATO processes have been in the eye of the storm recently due to the protests that angered Turkey.
19:25•Updated 21:44
Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson on Tuesday called the party leaders together for a security meeting “due to threats to Sweden”. The meeting started around 6 pm Finnish time.
Kristersson says at the press conference that he discussed with the party leaders the reactions that Sweden’s recent protests have provoked abroad.
In January, first the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a performing puppet was placed hanging by legs near the Stockholm City Hall. The other week, a far-right politician Rasmus Paludan burned the Koran.
On Sunday, Erdoğan hinted that Turkey could ratify Finland’s NATO membership without accepting Sweden’s membership. The burning of the Koran also ignited anti-Sweden protests in different countries.
– We have seen how individual Swedish demonstrations can have enormous consequences for Sweden’s image in the world and for the safety of our citizens abroad, says Kristersson.
According to Kristersson, there are also effects on “what is absolutely central to Sweden’s national security, i.e. the joining of Sweden and Finland to NATO”.
Kristersson: “The meeting is not about NATO”
Kristersson was expected in advance to try to straighten the ranks of the Swedish Diet in order to promote the NATO process. For example, a representative of the government support party Sweden Democrats Richard Jomshof threatened last week (switching to another service)that Turkey should be answered by burning “a hundred more Korans”.
At the press conference, Kristersson said that NATO was not really the topic of the party leaders’ meeting. However, the NATO process could not be ignored, as it is a central topic in Sweden’s security policy.
Kristersson also did not comment on the details of the discussions behind closed doors.
– We have different opinions on the NATO issue, but I am convinced that all parties want to protect Sweden’s security.
According to Kristersson, legal matters in Sweden can have big penalties.
– Foreign actors, including state ones, have taken advantage of the demonstrations to incite the situation so that it directly harms Sweden’s security, says Kristersson.
Kristersson repeats what he said earlier that the situation is the most dangerous since the Second World War.
– Of these groups and individuals who [protestoivat tällä tavoin] can become useful idiots for those who want to harm Sweden.
Talked with the UN Secretary General
After the meeting, Kristersson called the UN Secretary General to Antonio Guterres. According to SVT, the subject of the call was the anti-Sweden demonstrations.
According to Kristersson, the purpose of the call was to find solutions to calm the situation. According to him, Sweden does not want a war with the rest of the world.
– I have clearly stated that freedom of expression is a fundamental right in Swedish democracy. But not everything legal is necessarily appropriate, says Kristersson.
Kristersson called the party leadership meeting even before Erdoğan’s statement on Sunday.