His words have created quite the turmoil: On Wednesday, August 16, on Swedish TV channel TV4, veteran liberal MP Carl B. Hamilton was responding to a journalist's question about his party's red lines for the country's far right, with whom the Liberals, Conservatives and Christian Democrats have been in a coalition since the fall of 2022. "I think the limit will be reached if [the Sweden Democrats, SD] start talking the same way about Jews" – by which it was understood that he meant the way the SD currently talked about Muslims.
A few hours later, visibly caught off guard by the intensity of the reactions, the MP apologized and voiced regret for his "poor" manner of expression. It's unclear whether the comments were simply a blunder; Nonetheless, coming from a liberal politician who has never disguised his discomfort with the ideas of the far-right, they have revealed the complexity of the ideological distortions in which the liberal-conservative right has indulged ever since its alliance with the SDs. Such inconsistencies have appeared all the more problematic given that the Scandinavian kingdom has found itself in "the most serious security situation since the Second World War," according to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Hamilton made these highly controversial remarks during an interview about Richard Jomshof, whose center-left opposition has been calling for him to be replaced as head of Parliament's legal affairs committee, a post he has held since October 2022. At issue are the repeated attacks made against Islam and Muslims on social media by this close associate of SD leader Jimmie Akesson.
In a tweet posted on July 27, Jomshof had described Islam as "an anti-democratic, misogynistic religion-ideology that promotes violence, founded by the warlord, mass murderer, slave trader, and thief Mohammed." He has also regularly condemned the "Islamization" of Sweden and has propagated the theory of the "Great Replacement."
But while his stance is nothing new, the context has changed. This was demonstrated by Sweden's Internal Security Service (SAPO) on Thursday, August 17, when it raised the terror alert level to High. On this occasion, National Terrorist Threat Assessment Center director Ahn-Za Hagström said that the book burnings of the Quran that have been staged in Stockholm since the beginning of the year had "contributed to an image of Sweden as an Islamophobic country," making the kingdom "a priority target" for Islamists.
In light of these circumstances, Jomshof has posed an additional risk to the country's security, according to the opposition parties. "He is contributing to the worsening of an already very serious situation," said Morgan Johansson, a former Social Democrat justice minister. In January, the far-right MP had already landed in hot water when he declared, after a burning of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy, at the time of Sweden's NATO accession process, (which Ankara opposed then): "I don't think you should [burn a Quran], but you're allowed to do it and if it pisses them off, then burn 100 more."
You have 43.29% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.