“We are against Nazism, they are not”: Russian campaign labels Swedes as Nazis
Russia has intensified its propaganda campaign against Sweden and accused the Scandinavian nation of Nazism.
Posters linking national Swedish heroes to the Nazis have appeared at bus stops around Russia, according to reports on Tuesday.
The slogan “We are against Nazism, they are not” appeared together with pictures of Swedish people like Astrid Lindgren, known for her children’s books with the character Pippi Longstocking; Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA; and Ingmar Bergman, Swedish film director. The word “we” was printed in the colors of the Russian flag, while the word “they” was printed in the colors of the Swedish flag.
On the poster, next to his photo, Kamprad was quoted from a 2011 book saying, “I was a Nazi! I admired Hitler!” Kamprad further developed that his participation in Sweden’s Nazi youth movement during the war was “the biggest mistake of my life”.
Another version of the poster accused Sweden’s King Gustav V of being a Nazi.
The provocation comes when Sweden prepares to join NATO.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry held the Russian group Our Victory responsible for the propaganda campaign.
Latest plot twist from Moscow “We are against Nazism, but they are not” with signs of Astrid Lindgren, Ingemar Bergman, Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA). pic.twitter.com/Sr1z5iIRQx
– Oscar Jonsson (@OAJonsson) 3 May 2022
“We have no intention of participating in a public polemic with the Russian organization Our Victory, which is reportedly behind these posters,” a spokesman for the Swedish Foreign Ministry said according to the Daily Mail.
Sweden has not been the only target for Russian accusations of Nazism. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov aroused diplomatic outrage this week when he doubled accusations of Nazism in Ukraine. “The fact that [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky is Jewish does not deny the Nazi elements in Ukraine. “I think Hitler also had Jewish blood,” Lavrov said in an interview with Italian news channel Zona Bianca on Sunday.
The Russian ambassador to Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Monday for a discussion of the comments, which Lapid called “unforgivable.” in Lapid Tuesday tomorrow that the Russian government would apologize to Jews and Holocaust victims for Lavrov’s comments.
Further escalating tensions with Israel on Tuesday, Russia accused Lapid of making “anti-historic statements” that “largely explain why the current Israeli government supports the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv.”
Moscow has repeatedly tried to justify its invasion of Ukraine by claiming that it is working to counter neo-Nazi forces in the country, a claim dismissed by Western nations as a pretext.
The Times of Israel staff contributed to this story.