The Koran crisis The protests

Coraktion outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm. Oscar Olsson / TT NEWS AGENCY  

 

The Koran crisis|The protests 

57 Muslim countries will discuss the Koran actions 

 

The foreign ministers of the Muslim Conference Organization (IKO) will hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the Koran burnings in Sweden and Denmark. This is reported by the news agency EFE, writes TT.  

 

The meeting is planned to be held on July 31 following a proposal from both Iran and Iraq to address the recent Koran actions in Sweden and Denmark.  

 

Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M) Minister for Civil Defense and Mikael Östlund at the Agency for Psychological Defense. Mickan Palmqvist/TT  

 

 

The Koran crisis|The Swedish response

The minister: States spread an incorrect image of Sweden  

 

Sweden is exposed to "extensive influence campaigns supported by states" which aim to damage Swedish interests. This is what Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M), Minister for Civil Defence, says in connection with a press meeting.  

 

- We are doing what we can to remove the incorrect image that is now being given by Sweden abroad. This is happening in the wake of the Koran burnings we have seen lately, which have been carried out by individuals who often had a weak connection to Sweden, says Bohlin.  

 

According to the minister, pro-Russian actors are also involved in the campaigns.  

 

- We see, among other things, how Russian-backed actors are active in reinforcing false claims that Sweden as a state would be behind the desecration of holy scriptures. This is obviously completely incorrect.  

 

According to Mikael Östlund, head of communications at the Psychological Defense Agency, about a million posts with "very violent and hateful" content have been published since the Koran burning outside Stockholm's mosque on June 28.  

 

- Sweden is a target as we are a symbol of the modern West that challenges Islamist values, he says. 

 

 

Hans Brun, terrorism researcher. Claudio Bresciani/TT  

 

Terror researcher: Concern that lone actors will be triggered  

 

The Swedish security situation has become "more stressful" and more difficult to assess recently. This is what terror researcher Hans Brun tells Ekot after Säpo's announcement that the threat to Sweden has become more serious in the wake of the Koran actions. 

 

- What you are worried about is that lone actors will be triggered by the hate messages that are directed at Swedes as a collective, says Brun.  

 

Although Säpo assesses that the security situation has deteriorated, the terrorist threat level remains at a third on a five-point scale. That level is expected to remain for a couple more years, provided that more concrete indicators are not received that a terrorist crime against Sweden is underway, according to Brun.

 

 

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell. Achmad Ibrahim / AP  

 

The Koran crisisThe protests  

The EU's foreign minister condemns the Koran actions in Sweden  

 

The EU condemns the Koran burnings in Sweden and Denmark, writes Politico.  

 

The burning of Islam's holy book is "offensive, disrespectful and a clear provocation. Expressions of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance have no place here," EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.