Sweden: A warning to the world

by Svenne Tvaerskaegg

In February 2013 the then-Swedish foreign minister and former prime minister Carl Bildt announced to the world that Sweden had become a “Humanitarian Superpower”.[1] Ikea and Volvo, the great international symbols of modern, progressive Sweden were joined by another mighty symbol: Sweden, humanitarian superpower and moral beacon for the whole of mankind. Sweden was to be known as the land of tolerance and acceptance, a safe haven for the world’s dispossessed where all were welcome and multiculturalism worked. The world was to look up to Sweden in admiration, the Mother Theresa of nations.

Sweden’s borders had been opened to mass immigration decades before Carl Bildt’s proclamation, and for a long time this was no problem. Sweden was a rich, well-functioning and modern country with a high standard of living, and it was easy to accommodate the refugees and migrants who slowly began to arrive. Over the decades the trickle turned into a flood as hundreds of thousands of migrants from some of the world’s most dysfunctional and violent societies poured into the country. Immigrant ghettos sprang up round Sweden’s towns and cities. Most ordinary Swedes never came into contact with the crime-ridden ghettos and were not affected at first, their blissful ignorance helped by a largely politically correct and censorious media committed to the state ideology of Multiculturalism. For years it was possible to live in Sweden and actually believe the country was a multicultural paradise where mass immigration made the country a better, richer and more interesting place to live.



But a tipping point has now been reached. Riots, shootings and gang rapes, once practically unheard of in Sweden, have become regular occurrences. Crime is spreading out from the ghettos, and ordinary Swedes are increasingly coming into contact with the terrible effects of their disastrous immigration policy. Sweden’s shopping malls, some of the best in Europe, are being invaded by gangs of North African and Middle Eastern youths from the ghettos. It is in these malls that many Swedes get their first real taste of Multiculturalism. Sweden’s largest mall, the Nordstan mall in Gothenburg, is no longer a showcase of Swedish modernity and prosperity, as immigrant gangs attacking, mugging and sexually assaulting shoppers are turning it into a no-go zone.[2]

Just before Easter a news story broke about a particularly violent attack in Stockholm’s showcase Mall of Scandinavia. A 17-year-old Swedish boy was approached by a gang of approximately ten Somali youths who, according to police, were “looking for trouble”. When the boys’ father intervened to rescue his son the gang turned on him and beat him to the ground. The gang of ten then formed a circle round the prostrate father and treated him like a football, aiming repeated and savage kicks straight into his face. The badly injured man was hospitalized with what police described as “serious facial injuries.” Police say they believe the gang came from the nearby ghetto of Järva.[3]

As incidents like this increasingly intrude into the lives and consciousness of Swedes, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the illusion of a multicultural paradise. What is particularly worrying for Sweden’s political elites is that news of what is happening in their country is leaking to the outside world. It is seriously damaging their long fostered image of the “humanitarian superpower.”

A major blow to Sweden’s self proclaimed image came in February 2017 when US president Donald Trump asked the world to look at “what happened last night in Sweden,” referring to a Fox news report the previous evening about Sweden’s immigration-related problems. The Swedish and international press were quick to pounce on President Trump. It was triumphantly pointed out that nothing dramatic happened last night in Sweden. It was a normal, uneventful evening in a tranquil and peaceful country. Ex-prime minster Carl Bildt even posted a tweet aimed at Donald Trump, mockingly asking, “What has he been smoking?” Then, two evenings after President Trump’s remarks, a riot erupted in the ghetto of Rinkeby on the outskirts of Stockholm. Cars were torched and police were attacked and pelted with stones. Police officers were in such danger one had to fire his service weapon to warn off attackers. The riot made international headlines and the mocking voices were silenced. One wag commented on Twitter “It’s not Donald Trump that’s smoking, Mr. Bildt, it’s Rinkeby that’s smoking, just look out your window”.[4]

The world’s eyes were now on Sweden, and what they saw wasn’t pleasant. Sweden’s neighbors are especially concerned about what is going on in that troubled country. In August 2017 the Norwegian integration minister Sylvi Listhaug went to Sweden to see for herself. The visit did not go well, and sparked an incident between the two Scandinavian countries. After what was described as a “learning trip” to the ghetto of Rinkeby, Ms. Listhaug warned Norway to not follow the example of Sweden and allow crime-infested ghettos to spring up round the nation’s cities. The Swedish immigration minister Helene Fritzon was enraged at this criticism of the humanitarian superpower, and canceled a planned meeting between the two ministers, accusing Ms. Listhaug of speaking “complete nonsense.”[5]

In another blow to Sweden’s increasingly tattered image, Natalie Contessa af Sandeberg, a Swedish citizen born in Sweden to a Hungarian mother, appeared on Hungarian television in March of this year, where she explained she was leaving Sweden and moving to Hungary because of rising crime and insecurity, especially for women, in Sweden. The interview, which has been posted on YouTube[6], painted a very bleak picture of Sweden and put the Swedish authorities in full damage-control mode. Natalie Contessa af Sandeberg was vilified in the Swedish press, and last week the Swedish government sent education minister Gustav Fridolin to Hungary to do what he could to try to repair Sweden’s reputation.[7]

As the problems caused by years of catastrophic immigration escalate, it will become increasingly difficult for the Swedish authorities to hide what they have done to their country. There will be more attempts at damage control like the education minster’s pathetic mission to Hungary, but it won’t work. The dam has burst. Instead of being the land of tolerance and acceptance where Multiculturalism works and everyone lives together in harmony, Sweden is becoming known to the world as the land of ghettos and riots, of shootings, rapes and hand grenade attacks. Instead of a humanitarian superpower, Sweden has become a warning to the world of the folly of mass immigration and Multiculturalism.

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