Response to interpellation 2024/25:529 on support for Muslim associations and religious communities
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerned support for Muslim associations and religious communities as well as security and freedom of religion. KD argues that freedom of religion and freedom of association are fundamental rights and that the government is working to counter anti-Muslim racism 1 2 3. KD emphasizes that it must be possible to criticize Islam 2 and that the government has increased grants for security-enhancing measures 1. KD also emphasizes that new conditions for granting subsidies shall make it easier to stop extremist organizations 3. SD argues that Islam critics are those who feel unsafe and that Muslims cause insecurity for others, for example Jews 4. SD demands legislation to be able to shut down mosques that conduct intelligence activities for foreign powers 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Socialministern Jakob Forssmed (KD)
Madam Speaker! Vasiliki Tsouplaki has asked me how I intend to guarantee that Muslims can organize themselves freely without risking stigmatization or suspicion and what I intend to do to strengthen security and increase safety around mosques.
Let me state that both freedom of association and freedom of religion constitute part of the fundamental freedoms and rights in Sweden. The Government's starting point is that religious communities have an important role for their members and, through the work they perform, also for society as a whole. They also contribute to keeping the democratic conversation alive. The right to practice one's faith openly, fully, and together with fellow believers is central in our society.
There are, as the interpellor points out, problems with hate and threats being directed at people who express their religious or cultural affiliation. Therefore, the government presented a new action plan against racism and hate crimes in December 2024. The new action plan is a concerted effort in the work to combat racism in general, but also to make visible and counteract specific forms of racism through various measures, including anti-Muslim racism. The work in this area shall be accurate, evaluable, and long-term. A special focus is placed on the areas of school, justice system, welfare, and working life.
Regarding security at mosques, the government during the mandate period has significantly increased the state grant for security-enhancing measures to organizations within civil society to 84 million kronor and moved the administration of the support to the Agency for Support to Religious Communities. This grant is a complement to the work the Police Authority does to contribute to increased safety around, among other things, mosques. Among the organizations that have applied for and been granted support are organizations that are part of the Muslim civil society.
I would like to further mention in this context that the government gave the Agency for Support to Religious Communities the mandate to carry out measures to strengthen the security of religious communities. The mandate included carrying out knowledge-raising measures at a regional level aimed at religious communities, municipalities, county administrative boards, and other authorities. The Agency for Support to Religious Communities reported on this mandate at the beginning of the year, and their conclusions are currently being prepared within the Government Offices.
The fundamental principles our society rests on must be defended and promoted. This is an important issue for the government. Let me therefore conclude by once again emphasizing that the right to practice one's faith openly, fully, and together with fellow believers is central to our society.
The other deputy speaker announced that the interpellator had reported that she was prevented from participating in the debate.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
Madam Speaker! The interpellor has certain starting points in their interpellation that simply must be addressed as these starting points are completely incorrect. First and foremost, the interpellor claims that Quran burnings make Muslims feel unsafe. One of the men who burned Qurans was murdered in January. He also felt unsafe. After the news came that he had been murdered, quite many Muslims rejoiced on social media.
Those who criticize Islam in Sweden receive threats and hate daily. Many are critical of Islam but do not dare to criticize because one can be murdered in Sweden if one were to criticize Islam. It is not the Muslims who feel unsafe in Sweden. It is we who criticize Islam who feel unsafe because quite a few Muslims do not seem to understand that in Sweden one can criticize religions.
Salwan Momika felt unsafe until he was murdered for having burned the Quran, which one is allowed to do in Sweden. Islam has made Sweden less safe for everyone because too many Muslims do not understand that even their religion can be criticized, even though the criticism may be grotesque.
This debate should actually be about Salwan Momika, Lars Vilks, or Salman Rushdie. The names of Islam critics who have lived an insecure and dangerous life in the Western world are countless. When it comes to the Islamic sphere, it is equivalent to a death sentence to criticize Islam. That is what we should be talking about today. The actual insecurity of Islam critics is a much more important issue than Muslims' perceived insecurity.
If Muslims feel unsafe in Sweden, one might wonder why Muslims continue to come to Sweden. Last year, the majority of asylum applications to Sweden came from citizens in Muslim countries. Syria and Afghanistan topped that list. Sweden does not border Syria or Afghanistan. If Muslims feel so unsafe in Sweden, why do they pass through several Muslim countries and several European countries to get to Sweden?
The myth that Muslims feel unsafe in Sweden is not true. Nevertheless, we have politicians who continue to spread it. On the other hand, the presence of Muslims in Sweden has resulted in more Jews leaving Sweden. Muslims have ensured that another group feels unsafe in Sweden. This can be seen in Malmö. There is a lot of evidence and several testimonies showing that Jews cannot feel safe in Malmö because far too many Muslims harass the Jews in Malmö.
This debate is not about antisemitism, but if we are to have a discussion about who feels unsafe, it really is not the Muslims. Sweden has imported antisemitism from the Muslim world, and this has made life less safe for Jews in Sweden. I want to assert that Vänsterpartiet still denies this.
To summarize: We must first have a discussion about all the insecurity that many Muslims cause before we can have a discussion about the insecurity that Muslims perceive.
Socialministern Jakob Forssmed (KD)
Madam Speaker! It becomes a different kind of debate when a debater goes into polemics with an interpellator who is not here. Nevertheless, there are of course reasons to speak about these important issues. Here I share both the interpellator's and Nima Gholam Ali Pour's view.
Let me underline what I said in my answer. Freedom of religion and freedom of association are extremely important in Sweden, i.e., the right to, together with others, practice and express one's faith also in the public sphere.
On one point I share Nima Gholam Ali Pour's view, and that is that it must obviously be possible to, just as with other religions, criticize and discuss Islam in Sweden. It is a self-evident matter in a country where one has a free exchange of opinions and the opportunity to discuss and criticize, also in sharp terms, both religions and other things.
I do not, however, share the view that there are no threats against Muslims in Sweden. Today we have heard that the police suspect that someone carried out some type of attack against a mosque in Uddevalla during Ramadan when there were people in the mosque. We do not know the motive, but it is not the first time. In recent years, I have unfortunately had reason to call several mosques that have been subjected to vandalism and attacks, so it is real. This naturally leads to fear and insecurity among Muslims in Sweden. Does Member Nima Gholam Ali Pour not also see this?
I think it is very important to counter this type of threat and hate and, as I said in my answer, strengthen the security around mosques in order to contribute in different ways to greater safety for people who want to practice their religion.
This also applies in particular to the Jewish group, which the member mentioned. Here, the government is making major investments. We are expanding the possibility of receiving support over a longer period and simplifying the process for obtaining support for security work. The police are also making efforts to strengthen safety around Jewish institutions, synagogues, and other such places. This is incredibly important. We have had Jewish life in Sweden for 250 years, and it constitutes a great contribution to Swedish society which we must safeguard, just as we must safeguard Jews' right, together with fellow believers, to express their religion and culture in various ways without feeling threatened.
It is important that we manage to both have criticism and safeguard all people's self-evident right to religion. One reason why Muslims come to Sweden is that they have been oppressed in Islamist dictatorships that do not allow different variants of Islam. Despite being Muslims themselves, they have fled from Islamism to Sweden.
The world is complicated and difficult, not simple and black and white. Nevertheless, the constitutionally guaranteed rights apply to everyone in Sweden, and they naturally also apply to Muslims.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
Madam Speaker! I want to point out that my criticism is directed at the interpellation question. I am therefore not engaging in polemics against an interpellator who is not here.
A question that the interpellor poses to the Minister for Social Affairs is how the Minister intends to guarantee that Muslims can organize themselves freely without risking stigmatization or suspicion. It is difficult for the Minister for Social Affairs to do this when there are countless mosques in Sweden conducting refugee espionage and intelligence activities.
In 2017, Dagens Nyheter published a report by Niklas Orrenius revealing that nine mosques in Sweden had imams who reported criticism of the regime to the Turkish state. Of course, these imams received their salaries from the Turkish state.
Some time ago, it was verified what many actually knew, that Imam Ali Islamic Center in Järfälla conducts intelligence activities for the Iranian regime. How many mosques are there, really, that do not have connections to dictatorships or the Muslim Brotherhood?
The problem in Sweden is not that there is suspicion towards certain Muslim activities. The problem is that we cannot shut them down. We must have legislation to shut down certain mosques. Such legislation exists in both France, Germany and Austria. Sweden needs such legislation to shut down mosques that are used as spy centers for foreign powers or spread extremism.
For every mosque that is built, Sweden is becoming more and more Islamized, and it is not a direction that the Swedish people support.
Socialministern Jakob Forssmed (KD)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for the discussion.
It is important for the government to clarify everyone's right to freedom of religion and freedom of association, which includes both the right to criticize religions in Sweden and the right to practice one's religion without being subjected to hate, threats, or various types of expressions of violence. This is completely central in a democratic society and something that we truly want to safeguard.
I want to emphasize in this context that since the turn of the year, we have new conditions for granting grants to religious communities and to civil society in general to make it easier for the authorities to stop grants to extremist organizations or environments that are anti-democratic.
These are important matters, because it is essential that all organizations that receive support in Sweden live up to requirements that are reasonable to set regarding democratic values and that no type of extremist or violence-promoting activity is conducted. The purpose is to strengthen the legitimacy of the support to the organizations and religious communities that conduct activities that are important for the members but who also contribute a great deal to Swedish social life, which the majority do.
It is important that we uphold freedom of religion and freedom of association and that all people feel that they can live in accordance with their religion, seek fellowship and community with fellow believers and express their religious and cultural identity in Sweden. I am pleased that there is broad agreement on this.
We always need to work to curb extremism, violence-promoting statements, and threats against people's ability to enjoy their freedoms and rights. Many people who have come to our country have fled contexts where such rights have been trampled for decades.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.