Sweden
Swedish government condemns ‘Islamophobic’ burning of Qur’an
Salwan Momika, an Iraqi citizen living in Stockholm, also stamped on the holy book while close to a mosque
Sweden’s government has condemned this week’s burning of a Qur’an outside Stockholm’s main mosque, calling it an “Islamophobic” act, after an international Islamic body called for measures to avoid future burnings.
“The Swedish government fully understands that the Islamophobic acts committed by individuals at demonstrations in Sweden can be offensive to Muslims,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “We strongly condemn these acts, which in no way reflect the views of the Swedish government,” it added.
The condemnation came in response to a call for collective measures to avoid future Qur’an burnings from the Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The 57-member body met at its Jeddah headquarters to respond to Wednesday’s incident in which an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stamped on the Islamic holy book and set several pages alight.
The OIC urged member states to “take unified and collective measures to prevent the recurrence of incidents of desecration of copies of the Qur’an”, according a statement released after the extraordinary meeting.
“The burning of the Qur’an, or any other holy text, is an offensive and disrespectful act and a clear provocation. Expressions of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance have no place in Sweden or in Europe,” the Swedish foreign ministry said.
The ministry added that Sweden had a “constitutionally protected right to freedom of assembly, expression and demonstration”.
Countries including Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco have summoned Swedish ambassadors in protest at the Qur’an burning incident.
Swedish police had granted Momika a permit in line with free speech protections but authorities later said they had opened an investigation over “agitation against an ethnic group”, noting that Momika had burned pages from the Islamic holy book very close to the mosque.
(source: theguardian.com)
Finland and Sweden weigh joining NATO
In a rapid response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and despite threats from Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, of “serious political and military consequences” — both Finland and Sweden are now seriously debating applications for membership in NATO and are widely expected to join the alliance.
Should these militarily nonaligned Nordic countries opt to do so, it would be yet another example of the counterproductive results of Putin’s war in Ukraine. Instead of crushing Ukrainian nationalism, Putin has enhanced it. Instead of weakening the trans-Atlantic alliance, he has solidified it. And instead of blocking NATO’s growth, he has catalyzed its potential expansion.
At a news conference in Stockholm yesterday with Magdalena Andersson, the Swedish prime minister, Sanna Marin, the Finnish prime minister, said a decision on whether to apply for membership would be made “within weeks.” The subsequent application process could take a year or more.
NATO response: Officials said only that the alliance has an open-door policy and that any country wishing to join can ask for an invitation. The secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said simply: “There are no other countries that are closer to NATO.”
(source: nytimes.com)
Sweden Raises Alarm over Russian Military Exercises
Stockholm reinforced its defenses on a strategic island, amid military activity in the Baltic Sea that has “not been seen since the Cold War.”
STOCKHOLM — Holiday makers in Sweden heading out Tuesday to enjoy summer weather on Gotland, a scenic island in the Baltic Sea, were jolted when armored personnel carriers and other military vehicles boarded their tourist ferry, which was then escorted by Swedish fighter jets and a warship.
In addition to being a tourist destination, Gotland is also a strategically important site, often referred to as Sweden’s “fixed aircraft carrier.” The Swedish military deployed four naval warships and an unspecified number of ground forces and warplanes in response to a major Russian naval exercise that has set off alarms regionally.
A United States Air Force C-130 landed briefly in Visby, Gotland,
TANIKO Madagascar 