* Meanwhile in Sweden:
“In Sweden’s Ikea attack, two migrants, two slayings and rampant fear of refugees” reads one headline
Another story on the same attack: “‘Mad’ stabbings turn Ikea store in Sweden into a house of horrors”
According to the Post:
Immigration, in particular, has become a touchy subject in Sweden, a country that has long prided itself on its tolerance. Germany, France and Sweden have combined to accept a majority of the asylum-seekers flooding into Europe from Africa and the Middle East.
This rise in asylum-seekers has spurred a backlash in Sweden. Last year, the far-right Sweden Democrats party became the third-largest in parliament after pushing for a crackdown on crime and immigration.
“It’s always people from other countries that do these things,” Jorgen Grubb, Sweden Democrats chairman in Malmo, told Reuters after the recent grenade attacks. “What Malmo needs is to put up a red stop sign.”
Statistics don’t show a significant rise in crime, however. Sweden, a country of almost 10 million, reported only 87 instances of lethal violence last year, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention. That number is roughly the same as over the previous decade.
In Vasteras, police fear that Monday’s attack could unleash reprisals against immigrants.
Revenge attacks are possible but not likely, said Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert at the Swedish National Defense College.
“There is a rising climate of intolerance and even some acts of violence against E.U. migrants. We’ve seen that,” he told The Post in a phone interview. “And yes, some right-wing forces may try to exploit [today’s attack], but I think the Swedish public is sensible enough … to understand the circumstances.”
