Response to interpellation 2025/26:246 on religious umbrella organizations and the lack of transparency
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the lack of transparency and state subsidies of religious umbrella organizations. 1 KD argues that the government is carrying out important measures to prevent state funds from going to anti-democratic interests 1 2 3. KD emphasizes that a stricter regulatory framework has already led to several organizations being denied support 1 2 and that umbrella organizations can no longer apply for state subsidies for religious community activities in order to increase transparency 1. KD highlights that the authority has access to information regarding which congregations are included 2 3. 4 SD argues that Muslim communities must be more transparent 4. 5 SD argues that the authority should publish which associations are included 5. 6 SD emphasizes that the lack of transparency makes it difficult to monitor connections to dictatorships 6. 7 KD believes that religious communities can make their own efforts to increase trust by being more transparent 7.
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! Nima Gholam Ali Pour has asked me if I intend to work towards increasing the transparency of state-subsidized Muslim religious communities towards the public. He has also asked me if I intend to work towards ensuring that Muslim umbrella organizations that claim to be religious communities do not receive tax funds.
Let me begin by stating 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 in general have an important role for their members and also for society as a whole through the work they carry out. They also contribute to keeping the democratic conversation alive. The right to practice one's faith openly and together with fellow believers is central in our society.
If it is the case that religious communities and activities have links to violent extremism or other anti-democratic environments, they shall not receive state support.
As I have reported, among other things in connection with the response to Jonas Andersson's interpellation on December 5, 2025, regarding statements by imams, the government is carrying out a large number of measures to counter this. It concerns a new, stricter regulatory framework for grant funding, which has also led to several organizations that previously received support now being denied it because they do not meet the requirements that are set. It also concerns the establishment of a support function within the Center against violent extremism at the Crime Prevention Council to strengthen and develop the preventive work against violent extremism.
In addition to this, the government has appointed an inquiry tasked with considering and proposing rules that prohibit or otherwise counter foreign financing of missionary societies and other activities in Sweden with links to Islamism, extremism, and other anti-democratic interests (dir. 2025:52). The inquiry shall present its proposals on 29 May 2026.
A change in the new regulatory framework for state support to religious communities, which began to apply on 1 January 2025, is that each respective community individually needs to apply for grants from the Agency for Youth and Civil Society. This means that umbrella organizations can no longer apply for state grants for religious community activities, this specifically so that the regulatory framework will become clearer and more transparent. Regarding issues concerning any umbrella organizations that claim to be religious communities, significant control mechanisms are included in the agency's mandate to examine, manage, and follow up on state grants to the religious communities.
In the same way, the seeking community needs to provide information to the authority regarding, for example, representatives for the organization. As I mentioned during the previous interpellation debate, my view is that requirements that everyone who exists in certain environments must have their names published on the web is an issue that needs to be handled with caution, not least for security reasons. On the other hand, it is a self-evident matter that the authority, in its contacts with the communities, knows who represents them. There should be no doubt whatsoever about that.
In summary, the government is carrying out several urgent measures to prevent state funding from going to religious communities and other activities in Sweden with links to violence-promoting extremism and other anti-democratic interests. We take these issues most seriously, and it should be seen in light of the important changes we are now implementing.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
Madam Speaker! I believe that most people who pay taxes in this country expect that the organizations that receive tax funds have an external channel where they communicate what activities they carry out. That requirement is probably set higher when it concerns religious organizations that receive tax funds, because many taxpayers feel that they should not have to finance religious organizations.
When it comes to Muslim organizations, the requirement is set even higher, given that Islam has no long history in Sweden, that most taxpayers are not Muslims, and that Muslim religious organizations have been involved in a number of scandals over the last decades.
If one looks at the external channels of the Muslim grant-eligible communities, one sees that there are no names of representatives or board members. Svenska Islamiska Samfundet does not even have a website where one can find information. When it comes to Förenade Islamiska Föreningar i Sverige and Sveriges Muslimska Förbund, it is not stated on their websites who their member congregations are.
This becomes a problem when a mosque ends up in a scandal, which happens quite often. Then neither politicians nor ordinary citizens know which community the mosque belongs to. It is relevant which member congregations these Muslim communities have and that we have a discussion about this.
If one looks at the United Islamic Associations in Sweden, one sees that the Gothenburg Mosque is among their member congregations. The Gothenburg Mosque held a prayer for the killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in August 2024. Why is a prayer held for a killed Hamas leader in a mosque in Sweden? Hamas is, after all, a terrorist organization. It is important that the public and politicians are aware that a mosque with these extreme views is actually part of a state-subsidy-eligible association. The question is how it can be that such an association is still state-subsidy-eligible.
Another mosque that is part of Förenade Islamiska Föreningar is Stockholms moské. There, 870,000 kronor was collected for the terrorist organization Nusrafronten ten years ago. It is one of many scandals that Stockholms moské has been involved in. In a report written for MSB – the authority has since changed its name to Myndigheten för civilt försvar – and still remains on the authority's website, it states that Stockholms moské can be seen as the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Sweden.
There is quite a lot of evidence that the congregations that are part of Förenade Islamiska Föreningar have at least ideological connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. Why is a community with ideological connections to the Muslim Brotherhood still eligible for state subsidies?
That these Muslim communities which receive grants from the state are so reluctant to state who their representatives are and who their member congregations are can be due to the fact that quite a few question marks arise when it is revealed which congregations and mosques are included in these communities.
Socialministern Jakob Forssmed (KD)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Member, for this interpellation!
We have therefore significantly tightened this regulatory framework. We have new rules, which I have detailed, for who can receive state grants. Activities that previously have received state grants have now, with the help of the new legislation, been denied such state grants. We have built up the function within the Center against Violence-Oriented Extremism to support the work of countering extremist tendencies and violence-oriented extremism. We also now have the investigation on foreign financing, to mention some of the measures we are taking.
There is also a well-established cooperation between the authority responsible for grant management and the Swedish Security Service, which has been expressed on several occasions. It is not uncommon for the authority dealing with just grant management to alert Säpo to irregularities within various operations.
Regarding applications and transparency, it is such that the authority knows who represents the community. The community must also report all parishes and associations included in its application to the authority, and these are public documents.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
Madam Speaker! Given that the Minister says that there is now a system in place to handle this, I assume that the information I am going through here will also be handled.
The Islamic Association in Sweden, which is part of the state-grant eligible organization United Islamic Associations, is a member of the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe. Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe has close ideological ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Government probably knows that the Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamist movement that wants to islamize society in its entirety and establish a global caliphate. Terrorist organizations such as Hamas have their origins in the Muslim Brotherhood.
How can we have a state-funded association with such connections to an Islamist movement? I assume that the Agency for Youth and Civil Society Affairs is aware that the Islamic Association in Sweden constitutes an important part of the United Islamic Associations. If the agency is aware of this, the question is why this association is still eligible for state funding.
Sveriges muslimska förbund, another state-grant eligible organization, has approximately 70 member congregations. One of their goals is to integrate the member mosques into Swedish society. Which are the member mosques? We do not know. There is nothing on the association's website about which mosques are members of Sveriges muslimska förbund. On the other hand, we know of a congregation that used to be a member of Sveriges muslimska förbund until 2024 because that congregation was subjected to a police raid in March 2024, when Säpo struck against several addresses in an operation against suspected preparation for terrorist crimes.
I mean that a community that wants to receive tax funds and which not so long ago had a congregation that was involved in terrorism should account to the public as to which of its member congregations are which. It is not too much to ask to simply state which the member congregations are.
You should not have to contact an authority to get information about a tax-funded association, instead the association must be open about what they are actually doing – especially considering that not many understand why these Muslim associations should be funded by tax money at all.
When Muslim communities run mosques financed by countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, why does the Swedish state support these communities? It is quite difficult, and for me personally impossible, to answer that question. We have Islamist dictatorships building mosques in Sweden, and then the Swedish state is supposed to finance the operation. How does that even add up?
A simple way to handle this problem would be if the Agency for Youth and Civil Society Issues actually published which associations, congregations, and organizations are part of the different communities. The Agency sits on that information, and it should not be a secret. If Swedish taxpayers are to finance these mosques, they should know what they are financing.
Perhaps it is completely inappropriate to finance some of these mosques. We do not know that today because few people know which mosques are included in these state-grant-eligible communities. If we now must finance mosques with tax money, is it not then reasonable that we know which these mosques are and who governs them?
Socialministern Jakob Forssmed (KD)
Madam Speaker! I want to remind once again that we now have a sharper regulatory framework and that an even sharper regulatory framework is being developed in cooperation between our parties. We are also in agreement that we shall have a system to be able to provide state grants to religious communities with different orientations.
We also have this investigation now. The interpellor raised exactly this point that foreign actors, states, and other bodies can finance activities in Sweden. It is important that this is examined to a greater extent than what occurs today. It is therefore why we have commissioned this investigation regarding exactly foreign financing of activities with connections to Islamism or other extremism in various ways.
I also want to remind that the strengthened democratic condition is about contributing to not violating the fundamental principles that our society rests on and not violating people's fundamental freedoms and rights. One shall not exercise or incite violence and discrimination and so on.
It is an important task for the authorities to ensure that this works. The authorities work for the Swedish people, and they have access to the data from the respective religious communities regarding which parishes and associations are included. They are also public documents.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
Madam Speaker! During my speeches, it is not primarily the regulatory framework that I have criticized, but rather the lack of transparency. I have gone through example after example of how these Muslim congregations and communities withhold information. But I would still like to thank the Minister for Social Affairs for this debate. I believe that much came to light during the debate that those who listened can reflect upon.
There is a reason why transparency is important when it comes to mosques. In 2017, DN published an article about nine Muslim congregations in Sweden that were controlled by the state religious authority in Turkey, Diyanet. Imams at these mosques mapped people who were critical of the Turkish regime. At that time, these mosques, which acted for a foreign power, were entitled to receive tax funds from the Agency for Support to Religious Communities.
The question is whether these mosques are part of the Muslim communities that currently receive tax funds. It is difficult to find out this when not all Muslim communities disclose which are their member congregations.
Unfortunately, quite a few mosques in Sweden have links to various dictatorships and Islamist organizations. It is important that state-grant-eligible communities are open about which mosques and congregations they have as members and which therefore receive a share of tax funds.
Terrorism, Iranian intelligence activities, Islamism and anti-Semitism – all of this has been financed by tax money that has gone to mosques in Sweden because politicians and authorities have not been vigilant enough.
Now we must demand that the mosques that want tax money account in detail for what they are doing. They must account for this not only to an authority but also to a public that has had enough of mosques that run errands for Islamists.
Socialministern Jakob Forssmed (KD)
Madam Speaker! I want to begin by saying that I share the interpellant's view that transparency is important. Religious communities can make their own efforts to increase trust in themselves by being more transparent about what activities they carry out and which congregations and associations are part of the religious community.
My point in this interpellation debate is that it is not unknown to the authorities, when they are to review the grant applications, which associations and congregations are included. This is included in the applications that one needs to submit to the authority when making one's grant application, and they are also public documents. In that way, there is a transparency towards the public. That is what I want to say in this debate, as well as the fact that we have tightened the regulatory framework to make it possible to, in a clearer way than before, be able to stop grants and prevent foreign extremist bodies or other actors who want to finance religious activities in Sweden. There must be increased opportunities to stop this.
We both see risks that extremist activities are supported in different ways. That should naturally not be the case. If one conducts an extremist activity that conflicts with legislation and the regulatory framework we have today, one should naturally also be denied state grants.
At the same time, we know that the vast majority of religious communities make significant and important contributions both for their members and for society as a whole.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.