A Danish right-wing extremist wants to burn the Koran three times on Friday – also near the Turkish embassy. Are the provocations from Moscow supported?
Because of the announcement of further actions by the Danish right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan, Turkey has again summoned a Western ambassador. The Danish ambassador was appointed to the foreign ministry because “an attack on the Koran” was allowed in front of the Turkish embassy, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported on Friday.
In an interview with the Swedish daily Aftonbladet, Paludan announced that he wanted to burn three copies of the Koran in the Danish capital Copenhagen on Friday – in front of a mosque and near the embassies of Turkey and Russia. You can read more about the provocateur Paludan here.
Unlike in Sweden, Paludan does not need permission for such rallies in Denmark, according to Aftonbladet, he only has to report them to the authorities 24 hours in advance.
The founder of the right-wing extremist party “Stram Kurs” (in English: hard line) stated in the interview that he wanted to burn a Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Copenhagen every Friday – until Sweden was allowed into NATO, he was quoted by the newspaper as saying . Originally from Denmark, Paludan also holds Swedish citizenship.
Is Paludan acting in Russian interests?
Paludan’s statements about his motivation conflict with media reports that a former employee of the Russian propaganda channel “Russia Today” paid the fee due for the demonstration in Stockholm. The publicist in question, Chang Frick, confirmed this himself to several Swedish media.
Observers therefore suspect that Moscow could be behind the Islamophobic actions in the sense of hybrid warfare in order to escalate the conflict within NATO. A right-wing news outlet in Sweden even claims that Frick was actively looking for an activist who could carry out a Koran burning in Sweden. Frick disagrees with this representation – Russia also distanced itself from the Islamophobic protest action.
Conflict over NATO membership intensifies
The Turkish government took the action in Sweden in particular as an opportunity to reaffirm its doubts about NATO’s northern expansion to include the country – despite all the government’s distancing in Stockholm. Turkey and Hungary are currently the only members who have not yet agreed to enlargement.
Finland, which had applied for NATO membership together with neighboring Sweden, is apparently considering joining the western defense alliance without Sweden in view of the increasing tensions. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, on the other hand, was optimistic on Thursday: He hopes that the “heated-up situation” will cool down quickly and that he is ready for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at any time.
