Swedish PM slams French government over riots
Swedish PM slams French government over riotsSwedish Prime Minister Göran Persson has criticised the way the French government has handled the unrest in the country. "They have chosen a confrontational route and it is hard to see how it will become a dialogue," he said. Persson reserved his strongest criticism for France's interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, who described the rioters as racaille, or 'rabble'. "I'm surprised by the choice of words, at the start and as things went on. There is an implacability in the attitude towards the situation and I don't think it will lead to a dialogue," said Persson. "There is justifiable criticism of French society and you don't confront this with the sort of expression Sarkozy used," he continued to a group of journalists in Stockholm on Wednesday. The Prime Minister said that he was not willing to review the French government's method of handling the unrest, but at the same time criticised the decision to send in a powerful police presence and to introduce a state of emergency: "It's clear that if you resort to emergency legislation then it's naturally very dramatic, the like of which I haven't seen in Europe in the last 30-40 years. It feels like a very hard and confrontational approach."
Persson said he sees what is happening in France as a warning to the rest of Europe of the tensions that are built up as a consequence of poor integration policies and lingering unemployment since the slump of the 1990s. "It does not mean that the rest of us should think we don't have a problem, that would be far too arrogant," he said. "But obviously a simple thing like the fact that young people in France do not have the option of a study loan means that a great many are shut out from what, today, is necessary for moving on in society, namely further education." However, he said that the Liberal Party's warning that the same thing could also happen in Sweden was "unnecessary". "Rather than being in any way self-righteous, we should be vigilant, so such warnings are not needed. The vast majority recognise that this is a serious situation," he said. Persson also rejected the idea of more local police as a "first step" in Sweden. "It could be a method that works, but I don't believe that's the way we would choose in Sweden. For us it is about working on the opportunities for education. To start sending out signals about strengthening the police is to break with the political line we have chosen to follow," he said.
Sweden: Shots fired at police station
A police station in Södertälje, near Stockholm, was hit by around fifteen shots from an automatic weapon on Sunday night, following a major confrontation between local youths and police. Apart from police staff, two civilian women were in the police station. They were being questioned about a reported harrassment earlier in the day, which had been the background to the rioting. The women had called the police and reported that they had been harrassed in the shop where they work. Police refused to reveal details of their allegations, because questioning had been broken off by the gunfire, but three young men who had been identified by the women were suspected of making illegal threats. The three men were released in the evening, but the arrests had provoked strong reactions among 20-35 other youths in the area. The group advanced on the police and attacked them with stones.
posted by Unknown @ 4:54 PM
10 Comments:
The Swedish way of combating the non-integration:
Parliament said yes to new asylum law “With the numbers 150 against 39 voted the parliament today yes to the new temporary asylum law that will give hidden refugee families and persons”…
…Hidden in this context, means that they already had their cases tried at migration board and has been found not to have any legally justified reason to stay in Sweden…
The primer minister is calling for riots in Sweden.
What a pathetic society.
What a dhimmi!
"It feels like a very hard and confrontational approach."
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Is Prime Minister Persson related to Prince Charles? Or do they just belong to the same organizations--like hug-a-tree-weenie club.
He might want to talk to the firefighters/police in Malmo and eleswhere to see if they think the French are being too confrontational. How do you spell clueless?
P-E-R-S-S-O-N
Goodbye Sweden.
Tell you what.
Next time there is a riot or insurrection in Europe, this intellectual lightweight should be put on the front lines. He can then go ahead and try his superior "nonconfrontational" approach.
I have a feeling that he'll soon be in the running for a Darwin Award.
Does socialism make people stupid?
All of you are wrong. I hate to say this, but the tried and true method of sending in virgin sacrifices is the only thing that will work. Get back to me when they're ready to talk. ;)
As a Swede I'm once again saddened by the policy of our current PM (though hopefully not for long). He should support a fellow EU government instead of criticizing it in public. Anyhows, he's on his way out and probably just saying what he thinks his followers want to hear.
The Södertälje incident happened a couple of months ago and isn't related to the French riots. The youths in question were Christian Assyrians (from modern day Syria, Turkey and Iraq).
This group of kids (13-18) started harassing a swedish girl they knew who went into a store opposite from where they were sitting. When she ignored them and walked in they threw something at her, hitting her back. She called her father who promptly arrives with a baseball bat, and gets in an argument with the guys. Instead of taking out the bat he calls the police. After the police arrive the argument gets worse ending with someone throwing gravel at the police car and the police calling in the riot squad. The riot squad arrives and after a while the kids go home. Later that evening, when the girls and the father are giving their testimony at the police station, someone shoots a couple of shots through the window with an AK47 and then disappear.
This led to a very big discussion in the Swedish media with the main papers taking the view that the Assyrian community needs to get its act together regarding views on women.
The sad think is that the Assyrian community organizations took the view that it was the police's fault. This seems to be the case in the French riots as well.
By siding with rioters and youth delinquents, these minorities are painting themselves into a corner. Like the French riots the Södertälje incident alienates the majority of citizens in the country.
I am sooo sorry. It seems that i perhaps was to harsh. Silly me. Here is the true Swedish way to peace with the religion of peace followers (I kid you not):
[Swedish PM] Göran Persson wants to support Malmö mosque "Islamic center also conduct a school, Pre School, family counseling, youth counseling and much more. The center wants to be a trampoline straight into the Swedish society."
@ nunicorn:
You don't need to go to some obscure blog to determine that the perpetrators in Södertälje were Assyrian Christians. It's a fact that even the Assyrian association in Södertälje has accepted!
For me, the this proves that the issue is not only muslims, or even primarily muslims, but rather about arabs from rural communities. These communities are going to have a hard time whether they move to Istanbul or to Europe.
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