Swedish Minister Calls His Country Target Campaign Is Informed Regarding Al'Qur'an Burning By 'Russian Actors'

Swedish Police illustration secures protests. (Wikimedia Commons/John Christian Fjellestad)

JAKARTA - Sweden has been the target of a disinformation campaign by "Russian-backed actors", to damage the image of the country of the candidate for NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) by implying Sweden supported the recent burning of the Qur'an, the Swedish Civil Defense Minister said.

Sweden's desire to join NATO after Russia's invasion of Ukraine has put it in the international spotlight, while a number of demonstrations in which protesters burned copies of the Muslim holy book have angered Muslims around the world.

"Sweden is the target of a disinformation campaign supported by countries and state-like actors with the aim of undermining Sweden's interests and... Swedish citizens," Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin told reporters at a news conference.

"We can see how Russian-backed actors reinforce false statements like the Swedish state behind the blasphemy of the holy book," he explained.

"That's, of course, completely wrong," Bohlin said, adding the country's actors were trying to "create divisions and weaken Sweden's position in the international world."

There was no immediate response from the Russian embassy in Stockholm at a request for comment on the minister's statement.

Meanwhile, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in a post said he wanted to correct common misunderstandings.

"The Swedish state did not issue a permit to burn the Qur'an. However, police issued permission for a demonstration, a right immortalized in the Swedish constitution," PM Kristersson wrote on Facebook.

He also said Sweden had no tradition of burning books just because it was legal.

"The state guarantees the right to freedom of expression, but does not stand behind any political message," he wrote.

Meanwhile, Mikael Ostlund, spokesman for Sweden's Psychological Defense Agency, said Russia used the burning of the Qur'an as an opportunity to promote its agenda in the media.

"Obviously, one of Russia's ambitions is to make it difficult for us to join NATO," he said.

It is known that copies of the Qur'an have been burned in several demonstrations in Sweden and Denmark this summer, causing outrage among Muslims.

Denmark and Sweden say they regret the burning of the Qur'an, but cannot prevent it under rules that protect freedom of expression and expression.

On Wednesday, Sweden's security agency, SAPO, warned Sweden's security situation had deteriorated, as a result of a recent controversy over freedom of opinion and expression.

"The image of Sweden has changed. We have changed from a country that is seen as a tolerant country to an anti-Muslim country - that's how we are viewed... especially by Muslim countries in the world," Susanna Trehorning, a senior official at SAPO, told Swedish government broadcaster SVT.

"However, Sweden's level of security vigilance has not changed, and is currently at level 3 of scale 5, indicating a "high risk", with Lima being the highest threat level.