Sweden bans far-right rally ove8k8 conr 'threat'

Sweden has banned far-right extremist groups from holding a protest in Stockholm that was to have been both anti-NATO and anti-Islam.

The government's police and security services took the rare step because of fears the event on Thursday would have been similar to one in January that featured the burning of a Quran.

The destruction of Islam's holy book caused outrage throughout the world, and especially in Muslim nations, and led to pressure from countries, including Turkiye, for nothing similar to be allowed to happen again. Sweden's security service, Sapo, announced its decision on Wednesday, saying it would not grant the rally's organizers permission to stage the event. The agency said the previous rally increased the risk of attacks against Sweden by radical Islamists.

"The burning of the Quran outside Turkiye's embassy in January 2023 can be determined to have increased threats against both the Swedish society at large, but also against Sweden, Swedish interests abroad, and Swedes abroad," Sapo said.

Sweden is a member of the European Union but not of NATO and has been trying to join the Western military alliance ever since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict almost one year ago. Sweden's neighbor Finland is also trying to join the alliance.

NATO member Turkiye, citing the alleged existence of anti-Turkiye terror groups in Sweden and Finland, raised objections about the nations' potential membership of the alliance, and tension has grown ever since.

In the aftermath of the Quran-burning incident in January, Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a planned visit from Sweden's defense minister, during which the NATO membership bid was to have been discussed.

Sweden and Finland need unanimous approval from all 30 NATO member nations if they are to join the alliance.

The Agence France-Presse news agency said Thursday's rally had been organized by far-right groups opposed to Sweden joining NATO.

Sweden has seen a proliferation of far-right and neo-Nazi groups in recent years, especially since an Islamist terror attack in 2017 that left five people dead, the Deutsche Welle news agency reported.

One far-right group, the Sweden Democrats, has grown to become the second-largest party in the Swedish Parliament.

Ola Osterling, a spokesperson for Sapo, told the Reuters news agency the ban on the rally was specific to the current situation and did not mean all anti-NATO or anti-Islam rallies would be blocked.