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Sweden greenlights anti-Nato protest despite Turkey warning

Sunday’s Stockholm demonstration against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sweden's planned Nato membership has been given the go-ahead despite Ankara's objections, Swedish police told AFP on Friday.

Published: 3 June 2023 08:15 CEST
PKK protest in Malmo, Sweden
A PKK flag is waved at a May Day protest in Malmö. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

“We are going to ensure that all those present on Sunday are able to exercise their rights protected by the constitution”, including freedom of expression, Stockholm police spokesman Ola Osterling said.

The demonstration, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday in the city centre, is titled “No to Nato, No Erdogan Laws in Sweden”.

It is organised by the “Alliance against Nato”, which includes the pro-Kurdish Rojava Committee among others.

Erdogan, who was re-elected for five more years on May 28th, has so far blocked Sweden’s Nato membership, accusing Stockholm of being a haven for Kurdish activists Turkey considers “terrorists”.

He has also demanded that Stockholm extradite several dozen activists, though those decisions can only be made by Sweden’s independent judiciary.

READ ALSO: Can Sweden’s new terror law be used to stop an anti-Nato demonstration?

Earlier this week, Ankara expressed its frustration over the planned demonstration, organised by groups close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is outlawed by Turkey.

Even though the PKK is also considered a terrorist organisation in Sweden – as in the rest of the EU – its supporters are generally allowed to protest in public.

A spokesman for the Turkish presidency on Tuesday said it was “completely unacceptable that PKK terrorists continue to operate freely in Sweden” and urged Swedish authorities to block them from demonstrating on Sunday.

A new law beefing up Sweden’s anti-terror efforts came into effect on June 1st, criminalising “participation in a terrorist organisation”.

But the new law is not aimed at attacking freedom of speech, Sweden’s justice minister reiterated on Friday.

Asked about the possible presence of PKK activists at Sunday’s demonstration, the police spokesman said they were “also protected by the constitution.”

READ ALSO: Nato chief to travel to Ankara to push for Sweden’s Nato membership

“This demonstration will go very well, that’s how we see the situation,” Osterling said.

Turkey and Hungary are the only two Nato countries yet to ratify Sweden’s membership bid. Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg will visit Turkey during the weekend to attend Erdogan’s inauguration and try to lift the final obstacles.

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NATO

IN PICTURES: ‘New era’ as Nato flag hoisted outside Swedish parliament

'Sweden wants peace,' said King Carl XVI Gustaf as he spoke at a flag-hoisting ceremony outside the Swedish parliament to mark his country's Nato membership.

Published: 18 March 2024 11:17 CET
IN PICTURES: 'New era' as Nato flag hoisted outside Swedish parliament

“A new piece of Swedish history is being written,” said the King in his speech on Monday.

“We have left behind the military freedom of alliance founded under Karl XIV Johan,” he added. “A new era of security policy has begun.”

Sweden applied to join Nato following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, King Carl XVI Gustaf, parliamentary speaker Andreas Norlén, Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Micael Bydén, among others. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

The King said that Sweden’s membership would contribute to regional stability, but wasn’t targeted at anyone.

“Sweden wants peace. Thus wrote my grandfather, Gustav VI Adolf, and Prime Minister Tage Erlander to Swedish citizens in the 1960s. That’s still the case today. Sweden threatens no one. Sweden wants peace,” he said.

The Nato flag flying next to the Swedish flag and the EU flag outside parliament. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, speaker of parliament Andreas Norlén and military supreme commander Micael Bydén also attended the ceremony on Monday, alongside members of parliament, government ministers and several party leaders.

US ambassador Erik D Ramanathan and Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, director-general of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT

Across the water, outside the Royal Palace, a group of around 20 people held up banners and loudly chanted “no to Nato”.

Demonstrators holding signs reading Free Palestine; Sweden doesn’t need Nato for peace – Nato needs Sweden for war; No to Nato; No to war crimes club Nato. Photo: Samuel Steén/TT

The war in Ukraine and Sweden’s Nato application has not only boosted support for Nato, but also for peace movements.

The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (Svenska freds) has more than doubled its membership in two years, from just over 6,000 in February 2022 to 15,000 at the start of March 2024, reported regional public radio broadcaster P4 Jönköping earlier on Monday.

READ ALSO:

The Swedish branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (Internationella kvinnoförbundet för fred och frihet) has grown by 35 percent since January 2022, and the Christian Peace Movement (Kristna fredsrörelsen) grew by 12 percent in 2023.

According to Kerstin Bergeå, chair of Svenska freds, which is against Nato membership, a total of 200 new members signed up on the same day that Hungary ratified Sweden’s application.

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