Posters in Moscow accuse famous Swedes of supporting Nazism News
Russian posters accuse some of the 20th century’s most famous Swedes of supporting Nazism.
Posters accusing some of the 20th century’s most famous Swedes of supporting Nazism have appeared on the streets of Moscow as a sign of deteriorating relations between Russia and Sweden, and when the Nordic country is considering joining NATO.
Outside the Swedish embassy, two posters were posted at a bus stop with photographs of Swedish King Gustaf V, author Astrid Lindgren, film director Ingmar Bergman and IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad with the message: “We are against Nazism, they are not”.
The news agency Reuters saw a third poster with the Swedish figures, who are all now dead, located on a major thoroughfare in central Moscow.
Asked about the posters, the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s press service said in a statement: “Sweden has no intention of participating in a public polemic with the Russian organization” Our victory “, which is reportedly behind these posters.
“In Russia, accusations of ‘Nazism’ have been repeatedly leveled at countries and individuals expressing justified criticism of Russia’s actions,” the ministry added.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Three Moscow commuters at the bus stop near the Swedish embassy said they were positive about the anti-Swedish posters.
“I think the posters are timely in light of recent events,” said 47-year-old Alexandra.
“If Europeans consider themselves democratic countries, then I think it is completely democratic to express an alternative opinion and show people a different opinion,” she said.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its invasion of Ukraine on February 24 have prompted Sweden and its neighbor Finland to reconsider their security policies, with NATO membership increasingly likely.
Sweden’s defense minister said last month that a NATO application could trigger a number of reactions from Russia, including cyber attacks and hybrid measures such as propaganda campaigns.
Moscow says its military campaign in Ukraine is designed to demilitarize and “de-Nazify” the country, something that Kyiv and the West have dismissed as an unfounded pretext to wage an unprovoked war of aggression against a sovereign democratic state.