Hem English content Extremism in Sweden – part 1

Extremism in Sweden – part 1

2025-12-26

Regardless of whether it arises within the political left, the right, or among religious groups, extremism by its very nature threatens to tear apart the open and free democratic society. Right-wing extremism, often with roots in Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy, embraces a philosophy in which adherents typically believe that democracy must be replaced and that violence is legitimate when directed at those considered enemies of the people. People and the state are viewed as a single entity, the white race as superior, and immigration as a threat.

In the 21st century, violence itself—though not the capacity for violence—has decreased within these groups. Instead, they have largely focused on systematic threats and confrontational street activism. According to the Swedish Security Service (SÄPO), the white power milieu primarily poses a threat to individual people, since alongside opinion-forming activities the group regularly and systematically commits crimes such as violence, threats, and harassment to prevent individuals from meeting, carrying out their duties or work, or expressing their views.

In recent years, political forces often defined as far-right by traditional parties and mainstream media have gained increasing support among voters in Europe. These include France’s Front National, Hungary’s Fidesz, Poland’s PiS, Germany’s AfD, and Italy’s Fratelli d’Italia. These parties themselves prefer to describe their stance as nationalist. In Sweden, the Sweden Democrats are often equated with these parties and are still regarded as far-right by large parts of the left and by the Centre Party.

Among the genuinely far-right groups in Sweden today, the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM), founded in 1997, stands out in particular. Although NRM is the dominant actor, a report by the Swedish Defence University in 2020¹ shows that its reach should not be overestimated. Despite the fact that individual members may still carry out attacks aimed at trying to change the current social order, NRM as an organization is not considered system-threatening at present, according to the report. Police officer and criminologist Amir Rostami writes:

“The white power movement mainly engages in violent crime. They assault, threaten, and also have a number of murders on their conscience. Theft and drug crimes, however, are not common. That would conflict with their idea of purity. Such things, they believe, are for weak people such as Jews and Muslims. Half of all crimes they commit are vandalism and violence. It is a way of showing resistance to society, but also a method of welding the group together.”²

Left-wing extremism in Sweden has roots going far back, including admiration for both Stalin and Mao, and gained renewed momentum in the early 1990s. Youth on the far left were inspired by radical youth movements in Europe and created an environment linked to radical alternative culture and meeting places. The orientation among left-wing extremists is often characterized by the idea of “interlocking oppression”—the belief that power structures related to class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and species (the subjugation of animals by humans) have created an interconnected system of domination and subordination in society.

Left-wing extremist activists then began carrying out various actions against symbols of these power structures. These ranged from demonstrations to squatting buildings and acts of vandalism and violence against political opponents. Benjamin Noys, Professor of Critical Theory at the University of Chichester in England, coined the term accelerationism to describe a left-wing strategy based on the idea that things must get worse in order to get better. This strategy is said to originate in Karl Marx’s reasoning that capitalism would ultimately undermine itself by fueling a revolutionary process. Accelerationists argue that this “built-in” process should be hastened.

Among the more well-known Swedish left-wing extremist groups today is Antifascist Action (AFA)³, whose goal is to abolish the current social order and introduce a stateless and classless society. AFA has on several occasions shown that it does not hesitate to use violence and has been involved in various clashes. As early as 1994, the newspaper Aftonbladet listed 117 attacks carried out by AFA, several of which targeted police stations, banks, and EU offices that were vandalized with graffiti, butyric acid, smashed windows, and firebombs⁴. They also often attempt to prevent opponents from speaking by disrupting meetings with noise and disturbances.

In recent years, groups within the climate movement have carried out increasingly extreme actions. Among the most well-known are Extinction Rebellion and Restore Wetlands. Both claim to engage in peaceful civil disobedience but do not shy away from vandalism or from stopping traffic by gluing themselves to airports or blocking roads. This has prevented not only ordinary motorists and fire brigades, but also ambulances from reaching the sick⁵ and accident victims⁶. Since 2022, more than 200 climate activists have been convicted, 25 of them for sabotage⁷. Other charges include vandalism, trespassing, unauthorized access, and violations of aviation law.

Andreas Malm is a senior lecturer in human ecology at Lund University and a member of the Socialist Party. He has said that he sees no alternative but for the climate movement to radicalize rhetorically, ideologically, and “tactically and practically.” Malm therefore believes the next wave of activism must be larger and “more militant.” “I must engage in direct incitement,”⁸ he explained at a meeting organized by the Socialist Forum in Stockholm in November 2022. He has also expressed sympathy for groups such as Hamas.

According to SÄPO, the greatest threat today comes from the violent Islamist environment⁹. Within Islamist extremism, the aim is to establish a global caliphate based on what is considered a pure and authentic form of Islam. The ultimate goal is a society founded on the strictest interpretation of Sharia, which originally means “the path to the water source” or “the law of God,” and is derived from religious texts forming the basis of Islamic law. Islamic law is recorded in the Qur’an and the Hadiths (traditions about Muhammad’s life, or sunna).

There are five different schools of Sharia law, four of which are Sunni doctrines—Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi‘i, and Hanafi—and one Shiite doctrine known as Ja‘fari. These schools differ in how literally they interpret the texts from which Sharia law is derived, and because these texts can be difficult to interpret, legal scholars are often tasked with interpreting them. Countries that currently apply Sharia in their legislation include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Sudan, while other countries apply it only within family law.

For radical Muslims, it is self-evident that Islamic law is the only valid legal system and that those in political power should work to implement the holy law. Although there are different interpretations, Sharia grants not only clerical authority to religious leaders but also power over all parts of society, including the courts. Consequently, Sharia is incompatible with a secular and democratic society as we know it. Sharia law is also incompatible with Western views on issues such as gender equality.

According to Sharia, a man’s rights are “one degree above” a woman’s in divorce¹⁰. A man is also entitled to take four wives, while a woman may marry only one man¹¹. Sharia furthermore allows a man to marry a woman once she has reached puberty¹². In matters of inheritance, “the share of a son is equal to that of two daughters.” If there are more than two daughters, their share is two-thirds of the estate¹³. If a husband believes his wife is showing ill will, he also has the right to “admonish her physically.”¹⁴

According to one interpretation of Sharia, Muslim women must cover their entire bodies except for the face and hands when performing the five daily prayers (salah)¹⁵, even if they are alone at home. It is also considered a duty for women to dress this way in public. Muslim tradition further requires that women who wish to marry obtain permission from a “guardian,” known in Arabic as a wali.

Sara Mohammad of the organization GAPF has written about the absurd fact that organizations which deny or normalize honor-related oppression in the name of diversity receive more funding than those working against honor oppression and extremism¹⁶. Through state grants, Swedish taxpayers have thus helped finance organizations that seek anything but equality and democracy. This has also been pointed out by Social Democrat Nalin Pekgul:

“Today, the Swedish state pays out millions of kronor to Islamist organizations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, which work solely to segregate society—that is, to create parallel societies.”¹⁷

According to SÄPO, growth in these extremist environments has been extensive in recent years. SÄPO describes activities in Sweden involving long-term and systematic radicalization. This may involve foundations, schools, associations, and companies partly financed by public funds or by foreign actors seeking to spread propaganda.¹⁸

As early as 2001, there were worrying signals that should have prompted reflection. After the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, reports emerged of a school in Malmö where the attacks had been celebrated with joy, particularly by Muslim students. The school principal protested—not against the fact that students had celebrated the murder of thousands of innocent people, but against the newspapers reporting on the celebration.¹⁹

A 2020 mapping of 550 individuals with links to radical Islamism in Sweden showed that around 50 companies and organizations with identified extremist Islamists in leadership positions had, over the previous five years, done business with the state and municipalities worth 1.2 billion kronor²⁰. Terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp explained:

“Of course, there is a purely financial motive to make money. But it is also about influence and about isolating young people from non-religious society.”²¹

SÄPO warned that several educational institutions in Sweden were being run by people with links to violent extremism.²² “It is both a way for extremists to finance activities and a way to reach out and create conditions for recruitment and radicalization,”²³ said Johan Olsson, head of operations at the Swedish Security Service.

A couple of years ago, a government inquiry proposed introducing a democracy requirement when assessing who should be allowed to run schools. According to SÄPO, this was necessary to prevent violent extremists from using schools in Sweden as a platform.

Olsson argues that new regulations are needed to prevent violent extremists and other anti-democratic organizations from running schools: “Tax money must not be used to run schools that are not grounded in democratic values.”²⁴

A culture of silence has contributed to allowing this to continue. Swedish media have rarely hesitated to report on right-wing extremist movements, which is good—they are a serious phenomenon that must be highlighted. Until recently, however, there was far less willingness to shed light on Islamist extremism.

Journalist Sofie Löwenmark of the DOKU foundation argues that we must open our eyes to all forms of extremism. She notes, for example, that while the Nordic Resistance Movement demonstrated in Gothenburg in 2017, another extremist group of radical Islamists was able to operate completely undisturbed and without media coverage:

“While marching neo-Nazis attracted thousands of counter-demonstrators, radical Islamists have been able to continue carrying out dawah on our streets and squares without protest.”²⁵

Dawah means to “call” or “invite” people to Islam and can be described as missionary activity. In Sweden and other European countries, it is a way for radical Salafists to draw people into their extremist environment, explains Löwenmark. Regarding IS recruitment to draw fighters to Syria, two cities stood out in particular: Angered and Vivalla. Anna Carlstedt of ETC described it as a “million-dollar question” why so many people from these cities had gone to IS.

Löwenmark objected, pointing out that the question was easy to answer:

“The radicalization in Vivalla and Angered did not occur in a vacuum. In these places, as in others, people have very systematically worked to radicalize young people. And there have been people who, unlike Carlstedt, were aware of this. There have also been residents in these suburbs who raised alarms and issued warnings. That no one wanted to listen to them may be the real ‘million-dollar question.’”²⁶

That same year, then–SÄPO chief Anders Thornberg warned that there were thousands of radical Islamists in Sweden:

“We have never seen anything like this in terms of scale before.”²⁷

A leading Salafist preacher in Sweden was Anas Khalifa, who, among other things, lectured children in Sweden about armed jihad. Khalifa, who celebrated the 9/11 attacks and sympathized with the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo editorial office in France²⁸, saw several of his friends and followers join groups such as IS. He regarded Osama bin Laden as a hero and held lectures for hundreds of Muslims across Sweden.²⁹

In 2021, Khalifa decided to defect and leave his extremist lifestyle. He spoke openly in articles, television interviews, and YouTube clips about his former life and why he had changed his mind. He described, among other things, how after participating in Uppdrag Granskning and a lengthy interview on SVT’s website, he was criticized by Salafists for not being sufficiently clear and harsh in his statements—despite having said that it is strictly forbidden for Muslims to have Christian friends. According to Khalifa, there are Salafists in every mosque in Sweden.³⁰ After leaving extremism, he has received both threats and hate.

Swedish complacency has meant that Sweden has become something of a refuge and breeding ground for Islamists. Sweden has stood out in terms of the influence the violent jihadist environment has had within international terror networks, says Peder Hyllengren, a researcher at the Swedish Defence University. Hyllengren primarily refers to the number of Swedes who traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State and other terror networks:

“From Sweden, around 300 are estimated to have traveled, which is the second-highest number in the EU relative to population.”³¹

This means that hundreds of Swedes have built contacts with jihadists from other countries and entered various terror cells that have carried out attacks in Europe:

“Here, recruitment could take place undisturbed, largely due to politicians’ fear of addressing the issue. One risked being labeled a racist in a way not seen in other European countries. There, this issue was as uncontroversial as the importance of combating Nazism and right-wing extremism. In Sweden, however, it took a long time before it was possible to discuss jihadism in the same way we have long discussed Nazism.”³²

Sweden could have acted earlier, he says, but there were key individuals in the country who actively drove resistance in a way not seen elsewhere in Europe. Hyllengren pointed out that Swedish legislation has lagged behind that of other countries. Journalists such as Per Gudmundsson, Johan Westerholm, Johan Lundberg, Magnus Sandelin, and Sofie Löwenmark, as well as researchers like Magnus Norell and Magnus Ranstorp, warned early on.

Few cared to listen.

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Extremism in Sweden – part 1

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