Sweden looks into the abyss
Photo credit: The Swedish royal flag above the Royal Palace in Stockholm on June 11, 2023. © Getty Images
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
In a nutshell
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- Sweden’s reputation has fallen from welfare-state model to warning example
- Foreign-born citizens now account for 20 percent of the nation’s population
- Officials are perplexed by crime, economic threats, deteriorating education
After staying out of World War II, Sweden had evolved into a high-performing export-oriented economy, based on a stable parliamentary democracy and social consensus. The country had top-notch health care and education. It enjoyed social and gender equality, had low crime rates and little ethnic conflict.
Present-day Sweden carries the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of gangland killings in Europe. It boasts the lowest average age of serious offenders, with children in their low teens being arrested for murder.
Increasing segments of suburbs are officially classified as “especially vulnerable areas,” where it is “hard, bordering on impossible” for the police to operate. In layman’s terms, these are no-go zones, where local clans rule and where first responders will not enter without flak jackets and police escort.
Sweden has transitioned from being a model of inspiration to becoming a warning example. As gangland violence is spreading across borders, its Scandinavian neighbors experience growing fears of ending up in what is known in Denmark as the “Swedish condition.”
Defying an old taboo, the Swedish government has called on the military to assist the police. It has even come to the point where the governor of the Bank of Sweden, Erik Thedeen, tells the Financial Times that the growing problem of shootings and bombings is so serious that it risks damaging the country’s long-term economic growth.
Given the negative impact that a statement of this kind will have on markets, it is not to be taken lightly. Central bank governors weigh their words very carefully.
Having been long in denial, even the Social Democrats have now released a report of their own, recognizing that two decades of excessive immigration and failed integration have produced a national crisis.
Not All Migrants Are the Same
The reason why the problem has been allowed to get out of control is that so many representatives of the media and of the political establishment have for so long been cocooned in naive views of criminal dangers, leading to extremely lax legislation and enforcement, and of dangerous strains of Islamism, leading to a profound inability to scale up defenses against the current wave of radicalization. Those chickens are now coming home to roost.
Getting Tough On Crime Is Not Enough
An optimistic scenario departs from the fact that the non-socialist coalition government that came to power after the September 2022 election is busy creating legislation to tackle the crisis. In the words of Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer, the ambition is to achieve a “systemic change,” where a long-standing focus on rehabilitating perpetrators is replaced by a clear focus on victims.
The legislative agenda is built on inspiration from Denmark. It features much longer sentences for serious crimes, double penalties for gang members and special prisons for young offenders. It offers new tools for law enforcement, ranging from rights to electronic surveillance of gang members even before crimes are committed, to the introduction of visitation zones where police may stop and search even in the absence of suspicions of violations. And it includes a substantial boost in the creation of prisons to house convicted felons, including plans to rent space abroad.
While the government is strongly committed to realizing this agenda, it may not succeed. Denmark has been so successful because it started before the problems had gotten out of hand. In Sweden, the government has not only started late but also shied away from adopting the Danish example in its entirety.
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The Scandinavian nation of 10.6 million people is facing a national crisis because of its failure to successfully integrate record numbers of immigrants.
Foreign-born citizens now account for 20 percent of the nation’s population
Present-day Sweden carries the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of gangland killings in Europe. It boasts the lowest average age of serious offenders, with children in their low teens being arrested for murder.
Increasing segments of suburbs are officially classified as “especially vulnerable areas,” where it is “hard, bordering on impossible” for the police to operate. In layman’s terms, these are no-go zones, where local clans rule and where first responders will not enter without flak jackets and police escort.
Not All Migrants Are the Same
The reason why the problem has been allowed to get out of control is that so many representatives of the media and of the political establishment have for so long been cocooned in naive views of criminal dangers, leading to extremely lax legislation and enforcement,and of dangerous strains of Islamism, leading to a profound inability to scale up defenses against the current wave of radicalization. Those chickens are now coming home to roost.
Sweden has some of strict gun laws yet second highest gun crime death rate per capita in Europe.
How can both be true, effective smuggling. Serbian pistols, and Yugoslav-era hand grenades are the most common killing devices there. The so-called “Yugoslav mafia” that dominated Stockholm’s criminal underworld several decades ago established the supply process. The are now getting weapons from the Ukraine. Without any border control, the smuggling is easy and profitable. The gangs need the weapons to maintain or take control of Sweden's drugs, illegal gambling, and sex markets.
Why doesn't Sweden have adequate border control?
Ot perhaps a better way to phrase the Q: why do so many other European countries have better border control?
And not learning a damn thing from what is happening in Sweden and the rest of Europe, Biden continues to welcome these "newcomers".
Which newcomers are you talking about Greg, they have a very diverse immigrant population.
Haven't you heard, Kavika, this is Biden's new term of endearment for illegal aliens.
Biden Admin's New Term for Migrants Sparks Republican Fury (msn.com)
So it's all migrants, good to know but it seems that in Sweden there is a very diverse group, Syrians, Roma's, Germans, Serbians etc and the the ones that are most organized as in organized crime are the Serbians/Montenagrens.
Mass migration without assimilation is a recipe for disaster. This is an Australian 60 minutes report about their "no go" zones from a few years ago. It did not go well for the reporters
Many of the Swedes are starting to become aware of the consequences of their policies. But it may be too late . . .
(Interestingly the Danes were starting to have similar problems-- but apparently they realized the dangers much earlier than the Swedes and took measure to correct it)
Others saw it coming years ago. This is an interesting read.
While Europe Slept - Wikipedia
Others saw it coming years ago. This is an interesting read.
While Europe Slept - Wikipedia
From the reviews (Wikipedia):
In an article published in The Wall Street Journal , Walter Laqueur writes that " While Europe Slept is an angry book, well written and well informed. And it could not, of course, be more timely." [8]
J. Peder Zane of the National Book Critics Circle wrote that the book offers "urgent prose that challenges widely held ideas" in addition to "provocative—and controversial—arguments".
Zane thinks the book "begs innumerable qualifications" when it bluntly states that "European Muslims are hostile to 'pluralism, tolerance, democracy and sexual equality'", but believes that Bawer addresses those qualifications.
Zane suggests that Bawer, who is openly gay, is concerned about what could happen to European gay communities if Islamists succeed in establishing Sharia law that is hostile to homosexuals. [3]
Well, as for the wonderful modern peaceful neutral people of Sweden, they've been pretty busy being anti-Semites, and not just recently
Anti-Semitic hate crimes in Sweden rise by 53% to all-time high
LINK ->
ANTI-SEMITISM IN SWEDEN
LINK ->
Do you think it comes from people who have been there for generations or new ones who came from other places?
It started generations ago, but increased greatly with the influx of immigrants:
LINK ->
I remember reading, some time ago, that the problem was particularly severe in Malmo.