Clan violence in Sweden rises dramatically – police: ‘system threat’

Gang violence is increasing dramatically in Sweden. The police speak of a “system threat”. That also changes the discourse in the country.

Sweden – Has Sweden, which for many in the 20th century was considered the last social democratic model country, in the 21st century it naively surrendered to the mafia? And now it is on the brink of collapse as a “failed state”? For the ten million people in the country, the strange question has to sound a bit more realistic, as his deputy chief of police, Mats Löfving, has now painted a jet black picture of crime in Sweden.

Clans in Sweden: influence on the Reichstag?

It fell like a bomb when Löfving spoke in two interviews about the growing dominance of immigrant clans over organized crime against an often powerless police force: “We currently have at least 40 criminal networks based on family structures in Sweden, the so-called clans. I assert that they clearly came to Sweden with the aim of participating in organized and systematic crime. “

Needless to say, the chief of police asked for much more authority in fighting crime. More shocking was his ranking of the Clan crime as a “system threat” to Swedenbecause it’s also about political power. The clans had gained influence at the community level “and even higher.” When Löfving was asked in the television studio if he was Clan-Members had a seat and vote in the Reichstag in Stockholm, their response was: “We are pursuing this with the secret service. I can’t say more. “

“Wars” between gangs in Sweden: a 12-year-old boy shot by accident

The police offensive comes as a result of new reports of innocent victims of “wars” between criminal gangs that have been fought in Sweden for several years. In August, a passing 12-year-old boy was killed in Botkyrka, south of Stockholm, when rival gang members shot each other at a gas station. So far this year, 27 people have been killed in such shootings, almost all of them young gang members. In 2018, a European comparative study found that the risk of death by firearm for men aged 15 to 29 years in Sweden ten times higher than in Germany.

Police efforts to contain him have almost all failed for nearly a decade. The clearance rate is extremely low, according to the police, mainly because the ClanObligations to keep absolutely silent all those involved, including those on the victim’s side.

Shortly before the interviews with Löfving, news came from Sweden’s second-largest city, Gothenburg, that two warring gangs had set up real roadblocks with their own inspectors and imposed “curfews” on “dominated” districts. “with a high proportion of immigrants. The television station “SVT” reported in a documentary series on mafia sentiment and corruption in Sigtuna. Participants: the Social Democratic leadership of the city council, the construction company Peab and the top leader of the Syrian Orthodox immigrant community, which is strongly represented in the city. It sounded like a mafia story, which included “getting” votes from immigrants for the Social Democrats.

Clan crime in Sweden: populists and rights win

That was ten years ago, but as a revelation, today it fits perfectly with the dramatically changing immigration discourse in the country. Sweden hosted some 160,000 refugees in 2015, which is more people than Germany in relation to population size. “My Europe is not building walls,” said Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Löfven at the time. Today, after his long turn towards a very consistent policy against unwanted immigrants, Löfven has also made a verbal change and explains the problem of crime: “A high level of immigration, with which we cannot integrate, also brings a increased risk of problems. that we see now. That is very clear ”. Until now, the former union director had always highlighted social causes.

The terrible news of the gang wars has put his party on the defensive. On the right, conservatives and Christian Democrats have renounced all concerns about collaborating with the populists of the Swedish Democrats, who have emerged from Nazi groups. They are propagating the adoption of the extremely harsh Danish policy on foreigners, which has been signed by right-wing populists there for 20 years. Troubled neighborhoods in neighboring areas with a high proportion of immigrants are officially called “ghettos,” where gang crimes are punished twice as much as in other parts of the country. Until recently, this was true in mainstream politics. Sweden than racism.

Clan violence in Sweden: police look wistfully at Germany

The Swedish police also look longingly at Germany. Colleagues there, senior law enforcement officials said after visiting Berlin and other metropolises, especially when it comes to the swift confiscation of Clan-Money and through stricter gun laws completely different legal possibilities. The German style is correct, and clearly: “Follow the money.” You may have been a bit naive yourself. (By Thomas Borchert)