Adding insult to injury, Swedish PM says 'no need to insult' others
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His remarks come after massive condemnations and protests broke out in several countries following the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran authorized by Swedish police.
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Swedish PM holds a press meeting in Stockholm, on October 18, 2022, when he promised to crack down on crime. (AP)
Ulf Kristersson, the prime minister of Sweden, distanced himself from this week's demonstration in which a Quran was set on fire outside a mosque in Stockholm, which infuriated Muslims worldwide.
"It is difficult to say what the consequences will be. I think there are many people who have reason to reflect," Kristersson told a press conference, while the right-wing head of government believed that it was "a serious security question," adding that there's "no need to insult other people."
Read: Widespread condemnation after Quran burning in Sweden continues
The incident, which coincided with the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha and the conclusion of the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, triggered demonstrations in Iraq and several other countries.
Read: Iran summons Swedish envoy, slams Stockholm for allowing Quran burning
Kristersson urged restraint and reflection on Friday, saying, "I think that just because some things are legal, they are not necessarily appropriate."
37-year-old Momika who immigrated to Sweden years ago received authorization from Swedish police to hold his demonstration.
Later, they declared that they had opened an inquiry into "agitation against an ethnic group" and mentioned that Momika had burned pages from the Quran extremely close to the mosque.
Read: Turkish FM condemns acts of Quran desecration in Sweden
On Thursday, demonstrators in Iraq temporarily broke into the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.
"It is of course completely unacceptable to have people who unlawfully break into Swedish embassies in other countries," Kristersson said.
Friday saw a demonstration organized by citizens and students outside the Swedish embassy in Tehran to denounce the insulting of the Holy Quran in the nation on Friday at 14:00.
The Basij student offices and other student organizations from several universities in the Iranian capital worked together to plan the gathering of students and people.
In protest of the desecration of the Holy Quran in the European nation, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Sweden's charge d'affaires in Tehran.
In a formal letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Sayyed Ali Sistani argued that respect for free speech does not excuse such despicable behavior, which is a flagrant violation of the sanctities of more than two billion Muslims.
It is worth noting that two weeks prior to this, a Swedish appeals court rejected the police's decision to deny permits for those who wanted to wage protests involving the burning of the Quran.
Sweden's NATO membership bid
Police had at the time cited security concerns in the wake of the burning of a Quran outside Turkey's embassy in January, which sparked weeks of demonstrations and demands for a boycott of Swedish goods and hampered Sweden's NATO membership application, which is being resisted by Turkey.
Talks on Sweden joining NATO have been stalling since the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran took place near Turkey's embassy in Sweden earlier this year.
On June 7, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Sweden must take concrete steps in order to join the NATO alliance.
"Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had a phone conversation with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom. During the talk, he congratulated his colleague Minister Fidan on his new appointment. Minister Fidan also stressed that concrete steps must be taken for Sweden to join NATO," a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry read on June 7.
The statement added that both ministers convened on the restoring of dialogue following a meeting of the Standing Joint Mechanism on Sweden's NATO membership.
Two days ago, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that Turkey, Sweden, Finland, and NATO will be holding a meeting in Brussels to discuss Sweden's ascension to NATO.
"We agreed to convene a new meeting of Finland, Sweden, Turkey, and NATO. This meeting will take place in Brussels next week. I will chair the meeting and it will be a high-level meeting with the foreign ministers, the chiefs of intelligence, and national security advisers. And the purpose of that meeting is, of course, to make progress so we can have a positive decision at the Vilnius summit on Swedish membership," Stoltenberg said.
Kristersson emphasized that it was still too early to predict the effects of this week's events.
"I think we should focus on the right things now. It's important that Sweden becomes a member of NATO. We have important and large issues to deal with," he said.
