The Koran burning incident in Stockholm, which threatens Sweden’s NATO membership, was funded by a far-right journalist with ties to Kremlin-backed media outlets, it has emerged.
The holy book was set on fire near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm last Saturday by a far-right politician and anti-Islam provocateur, Rasmus Paludan, a dual Danish-Swedish national known for similar acts.
Swedish media have reported that Paludan’s 320 Swedish kroner (£25, $31) demonstration permit was paid for by a former employee of Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT, Chang Frick, who now regularly does media spots for the far-right Sweden Democrats. Frick has confirmed that he paid for permission to hold the protest but denied that he had asked anyone to burn the Muslim holy book.
The exploit has sparked criticism across the Islamic world and deepened the confrontation with Turkey over Sweden’s bid to join NATO, which requires the approval of all 30 member countries. “Those who allow such blasphemy in front of our embassy can no longer count on our support for their NATO membership,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in response to the book burning.
Despite calls from Sweden to resume trilateral talks with Turkey and Finland over their NATO bids, Turkey’s foreign ministry on Thursday said it was “pointless” to hold further talks. On Friday, Turkey also summoned the Danish ambassador, accusing Denmark of supporting a “hate crime”.
Paludan told local media he carried out the action because “some Swedes want me to burn a Koran in front of the Turkish embassy”. In an interview with The Insider website, Frick confirmed that he paid for permission to hold the protest, but claimed “it wasn’t my idea” to burn the Muslim holy book.
He also told the site that he hasn’t worked for Russia Today, later renamed RT, since 2014 and hasn’t supported Russia since Crimea was annexed.
Frick, a former Sweden Democrat official, is the founder of a far-right website focused on immigration in Sweden. Speaking to The New York Times in 2019, he joked about his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pulling out a wad of ruble notes from a recent trip to Russia, he told the reporter, “Here’s my real boss! It’s Putin!”
Frick also has a regular show on a media channel affiliated with the far-right Sweden Democrats, who have an agreement to support Sweden’s tripartite coalition despite not being part of the government.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom has described the Islamophobic provocations as appalling. “Sweden has wide-ranging freedom of expression, but that doesn’t mean that the Swedish government or I support the opinions expressed.”
Finland and Sweden started trilateral talks with Turkey last year to assuage Ankara’s doubts about its NATO membership. The Swedish government has said it has done exactly what it promised to strengthen its counter-terrorism legislation, but Turkey is demanding more, including the extradition of 130 people it considers terrorists.