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“As the crown pandemic swept across Europe, some radical right-wing groups flourished while others ran aground,” Nick Lowles, president of Britain’s Hope Not Hate organization, said in a press release.
Like the rest of Swedish society, the environments of right-wing extremism have shrunk in line with the spread of the coronavirus. Events have been canceled or postponed. But what has caused the biggest headache on the Swedish right is the attitude towards covid-19. A crack has been seen there, according to a report from Expo, Hope not hate and the German Amadeu Antonio foundation.
Shared opinions
The poll shows that some right-wing extremists immediately expressed their discontent with the government and the Public Health Agency when the pandemic raged in Sweden. Others spoke of the idea of accelerationism, rapid social transformation, and instead welcomed the crisis.
But a dilemma arose: On the one hand, there was room to criticize the government and authorities, who adopted mild restrictions compared to many other countries. On the other hand, like-minded foreigners took the opposite approach and wanted more openness in their countries, pointing to Sweden.
“Ideologies of hate are internationalizing like never before,” says Lowles.
United against minorities
The lack of a unified response to COVID-19 made many right-wing extremists eager to find issues other than the pandemic. And in certain periods of 2020, the far right agreed by creating common scapegoats. When Swedish media in March reported that many Somali Swedes were among the first to die of COVID-19 in Stockholm, the news was met with racist and dismissive comments on far-right forums.
Conspiracy theories flourished in both Europe and Sweden during the year of the pandemic. Propaganda was launched that the pandemic is a scam and received support among right-wing extremists.
“At the European level, it is clear that conspiracy theories, several with anti-Semitic roots, have gained popularity,” says Lowles.
Widespread hostility
The report shows that the views of right-wing extremists have gained ground in Europe during the pandemic. At least a quarter of Europeans have negative feelings towards Muslims, just under a third are generally xenophobic, and more than a third have a negative opinion of Roma.
“Growing racial nationalism accompanies growing far-right terrorism,” Lowles said in a news release.
Jesper Karlsson / TT
Behind the report are three organizations: Expo (Sweden), Hope not hate (Great Britain) and the Amadeu Antonio Foundation (Germany).
Among other things, 12,000 people in eight countries (Sweden, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Poland and Hungary) answered questions, of whom 1,010 were Swedes.
Immigration is one of the four most important topics in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden.
50 per cent of Swedes believe that Sweden is going in the wrong direction.
41 percent of Swedes believe that feminism is partially or fully the reason why some men feel marginalized or demonized in society.
Fifty-one percent of Swedes sympathize with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Source: Expo, Hope not hate and Amadeu Antonio foundation
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