‘What’s legal is not necessarily appropriate’: Sweden’s PM calls Koran burning an act of disrespect
On his Twitter account, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson commented on the burning of the Koran in front of the Turkish Embassy on Friday. The politician called this action disrespectful to Muslims.
“Freedom of speech is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. The burning of books sacred to many is an act of deep disrespect. I want to express my sympathy to all Muslims who are offended by what happened today in Stockholm,” Kristersson said.
It is worth noting that on January 21 in Stockholm, the holy book was set on fire by anti-Islamic activist Rasmus Paludan, who heads the right-wing Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party in Denmark. The man is Danish with a Swedish passport. He had previously publicly set fire to the Koran, and also demanded a ban on Islam. The provocative action became known as early as January 20. Then the law enforcement officers of the kingdom stated that they were not going to interfere with the policy in his intentions. In his speech, Paludan criticized NATO, Turkey and its President Tayyip Erdogan, and then showed a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned such a performance and called the incident “an open violation by Sweden of the signed trilateral (also with the participation of Finland – editor’s note) memorandum [о вступлении в НАТО]”. The ministry urged the kingdom to take concrete steps to fulfill the commitments to combat terrorism, which are enshrined in this memorandum. Also in response, Turkish residents held a large-scale protest near the Swedish Consulate General in Istanbul, during which activists burned the Swedish flag.
It is noteworthy that the head of the Swedish Foreign Ministry, Tobias Bilström, on January 20, in an interview with the Bilström newspaper, said that the burning of the Koran is a manifestation of democracy: “It would be very inappropriate for me, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, to interfere and insist that a person not be allowed to hold a demonstration. The fact that such demonstrations can take place in the country is part of Sweden’s democracy.”
