Sweden is overwhelmed by a wave of violence – in the background, Serbian President Vucic hints at the acceptance of a solution plan for Kosovo

Murder and manslaughter, gang crime and children who offer themselves as hitmen. And right in the middle a Koran goes up in flames. What sounds like an apocalyptic movie is reality in Sweden.

The Scandinavian state appears to be largely failing to contain a wave of violence sweeping across the model country – the situation appears to be escalating. And this despite the fact that the new government actually wanted to do everything better than before.

What’s happening there?

the gangs

While firearm homicide rates have fallen in recent years in many European countries, it has risen in Sweden, according to a comparative study published in 2021 by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.

In fact, in 2022, Sweden recorded a record number of gun deaths – the number increased by about a third compared to the previous year. The suburbs of the capital Stockholm in particular are startled by shootings and explosions.

A young mother describes her fears as she looks at a hole left by explosives in the outer wall of her apartment building, according to the American magazine Politico:

The most prominent victim of gang terror is rapper Nils “Einár” Grönberg, who was shot dead in October 2021 in Stockholm. The trial of the alleged mastermind behind the crime – the leader of the Vårbynätverket – starts on Wednesday.

The gangs responsible for the escalation of violence are often active in the drug scene. According to SVT, many crimes are rooted in the rivalry between two gangs for the drug market in Sundsvall.

But the phenomenon is spreading all over the country: “I would say that the ‘gangster identity’ is like a trend that is spreading everywhere,” says scene expert Diamant Salihu during a reader question-and-answer session on public broadcaster SVT.

State police chief Anders Thornberg said at a press conference on Monday that the situation is now “extremely serious”.

The gang members are frequent Teenagers from immigrant familiessaid Salihu. Half of the suspects are under the age of 18, research commander Hanna Paradis recently said. Thornberg even speaks of “children”. Stockholm County Police Commissioner Carin Götblad describes the case of a 13-year-old who offered himself to the gangs to “kill someone for free” so that he could “become someone”.

Sweden’s police chief, Jale Poljarevius, said of the gang members a year ago during a panel discussion at Uppsala University:

The course of the new government

All this is not really new for the Swedes. Her country has long struggled with escalating gun violence, largely linked to organized networks and organized crime.

What is new is the political orientation of the government elected in September, which is responsible for containing the violence. But the situation seems to elude her.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson came to power after last September’s parliamentary elections, with strong support from, among others, the right-wing populist Sverigedemokraterna (SD).

Both Kristersson’s Moderate Party and the SD particularly supported the Pledge to tackle gang crime. Among other things, they promised stricter immigration controls or even a “paradigm shift” in criminal justice – prison sentences should be extended.

And that course was so well received by voters that popular Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and her centre-left minority government were ousted.

But as the coalition government must now learn, delivering on campaign promises is not as easy as winning elections with promises. Because 112 of the 388 shootings that took place in Sweden in 2022 took place in September or later.

On December 20, the leaders of the three governing parties and the far-right SD leader Jimmie Åkesson presented a series of policy changes to end the violence. The police will soon be allowed to search for weapons and explosives, even if they cannot find any abuses.

The police announced last Friday that they had called additional resources from other regions to Stockholm because of the wave of violence. However, she stresses that this will only have a short-term effect, because in the longer term, the “key to overcoming gang violence” lies in ending recruitment, according to Thornberg.

The burning Quran and the gangs

As Swedish police in Stockholm concentrate to fight gang violence, a holy book has gone up in flames in Sweden: far-right provocateur Rasmus Paludan set fire to a Quran near the Turkish embassy on Saturday – the action was police-approved.

The action was met with incomprehension throughout the Muslim world and led to protests that included the burning of the Swedish flag. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also expressed outrage at the “Islamophobic act in Stockholm” – threatening Sweden to stop supporting the country in its bid to join NATO.

While Prime Minister Kristersson apologized to the Muslim community and called the incident “offensive”, SD Chairman Åkesson added fuel to the fire via Facebook when he responded to the Prime Minister’s words:

In Sweden itself, there have also been riots during counter-demonstrations in recent days, damage to property and attacks on the police.

It is not the first time that Paludan has been at the center of such a situation in Sweden. For example, in April 2022 there were major riots across the country after the hardliner announced that he wanted to burn Qurans – and the police protected his event.

At the time, it was said that the Swedish gangs were behind the riots and would profit from the riots and violence against the police. According to Thornberg, the main target of the rioters is not Paludan, but the Swedish police and society.

Criticism of the government’s course

Critics doubt the new government will bring the multi-layered violence in the country under control.

Police chief Poljarevius dismisses the “to destroy crime” promises as empty rhetoric. Crime has always been there and always will be, he says. What he believes is really needed is social mobilization. And more resources are needed to enable individuals to escape the criminal life – and last but not least, a targeted restoration of trust in the authorities is needed.

In a guest article in the British magazine New Statesman, Swedish journalist Karin Pettersson analyzes that the new government is misaligning the focus – so “increasing segregation” is the “key factor” for the violence. But the government has touted only stricter Swedish citizenship requirements or restricting the right to family reunification as a solution.

The journalist does not see a solution to gang violence in deportations, but in combating growing inequality through, for example, the privatization of schools or the lack of social services and affordable housing.

The latest poll by Swedish polling institute Novus, published in early January, shows that support for the government is steadily declining – while opposition is growing.

Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer of the Moderate Party is now also talking about a social and political failure:

Scene expert Salihu confirms that: Deportation is not a solution, because the perpetrators are a “product of our common society”.

And so, according to “Politico,” the note was found next to a recently shot man: