The Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, has announced that the country is planning to tighten border controls due to security concerns after recent controversies related to Quran burnings.
According to Prime Minister Kristersson, in order to deal with the current situation, the authorities will introduce a new law that is expected to be approved on Thursday.
As explained, the new law will give expanded powers to the police to carry out identity checks and body and vehicle searches at the country’s borders.
Moreover, in line with the new law that is expected to enter into force soon, Sweden will also expand electronic border surveillance.
“As everyone knows, we have a complicated security situation both in and around Sweden. We are in daily contact with the Swedish intelligence services at the moment. That’s how serious we think the situation is,” Prime Minister Kristersson said during a press conference on Tuesday.
In addition, commenting on the measures, Prime Minister Kristersson said that they are intended to prevent all those who have weak connections to the country from entering its territory.
“People with very weak links to Sweden should not be able to come to Sweden to commit crimes or to act in conflict with Swedish security interests,” Kristersson stated.
Deutsche Welle explains that Sweden as well as Denmark have been on focus due to the several anti-Islam protests in which some individuals have desecrated the Muslim holy book, the Quran.
Such actions have incited rage across the Muslim world, and for this reason, the authorities plan to taken measures on the matter as soon as possible to put an end to provocations that could trigger serious threats.
The Minister of Justice of Sweden, Gunnar Strommer, who appeared at the press conference alongside Prime Minister Kristersson also commented on the matter. He said that stricter border controls are necessary as they permit the authorities to identify people entering Sweden and prevent any security threats.
The government of Sweden is also reveiwing the Public Order Act. This act regulated the permits that are given by the police to Quran burners.
Nonetheless, according to the Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer, it is very unlikely that Sweden will make changes to its law on hate speech. Strömmer said that this would demand to introduce restriction on freedom of expression and would also require constitutional amendments.
Previously, a number of Islamic countries criticised the burning of the Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm. They voiced their disapproval, and in Iraq, protesters tried to breach the building of the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad.
