“This is madness. Where are we going? Are we being sentenced to death because we are Swedes?”, asks Gunnar O., who watches a loop on a cell phone of a man in a fluorescent orange jacket shooting three of his comrades Monday evening in Brussels. Sitting on a bench in Lilla Malmö in the south of Sweden, this sixty-year-old man struggles to contain his emotion and anxiety. “However, I am in a city where gangs and deadly violence are at war. But it is very serious and dangerous to become the target of assassins abroad because we wear Sweden’s colors.” he said.
Customers at a nearby cafe watch on TV as the Conservative Prime Minister intervenes in front of the press, shocked by the attack. Of course, authorities have been anticipating possible attacks against Swedish interests in recent months following the burning of a Koran in Stockholm earlier this summer, which sparked strong protests in the Muslim world.
Attack on Brussels: Nordic countries and Islam, long conflict
Priority target
The Scandinavian kingdom has become a “priority target” for terrorists, the Swedish intelligence service (Säpo) warned on August 17, raising its terror alert level to 4 from 5 in the wake of various approved desecrations of the Koran. by the police. “The threat of attacks will persist for a long time.” Charlotte von Essen, the head of Szabo in the country, had warned, however, that attacks abroad were not expected.
“Everything points to a terrorist attack targeting Sweden and Swedes.” According to the head of government, “We will not give in to terrorism. We must defend our open democratic society and defend our own values.” “We live in dark and dangerous times. Sweden and its interests have never been so threatened. He agrees, adding that “Now is the time for greater security, greater caution, greater awareness. We must not simply be naive.” alleged to have particularly struck “Occasionally stayed in Swedenbut not in the police files”, He insists.
However Mr. Christerson”Swedes don’t want to hide that they are Swedes.”because it is “Surrender to fear and bow to terror. “Swedes should be proud to wear the colors of the Swedish flag abroad.”When Swedish embassies abroad invite their nationals he says “Exercise with extreme caution and awareness. For Stockholm’s head of government, that’s clear “Sweden and the EU need better control of their borders […] And dangerous persons who are not Swedish citizens must be deported immediately.”
A Swedish expert points to Belgium after the attack: ‘It’s not surprising that something like that happened. There is a big problem in this country.’
Protect the borders
On Tuesday evening, EU leaders were due to meet via video conference on the situation in the Middle East, where the attack in Brussels could be discussed. To this end, Mr. Kristersson is “Clear Message” to his peers. “The current general conclusion is that Europe’s borders must be protected. Because if we don’t have control, if you can enter Europe and move freely between borders, the situation will be dangerous.” “Without control of Europe’s external borders, we cannot move freely in Europe”He insists during his press conference.
The attack did not surprise analysts like terrorism researcher Magnus Ranstorp. “With all the terrorist threats since the Koran burning, the focus has been on Sweden and Swedes in recent months, so I’m shocked, but not surprised. He told SVT radio, “Five or six terrorist organizations have made specific threats against Sweden.
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