After the Russian invasion of the Ukraine in February 2022, Sweden and Finland abandoned generations of neutrality to apply for membership in the NATO military alliance. However, there is already a gang war going on in Swedish streets, and it has nothing to do with Russia.

Between January and May 2023, Swedish police recorded on average one completed bomb detonation every two days. If you add the bombs that were in preparation, but not yet detonated, Sweden experienced one explosives-related crime per day. Rival gangs increasingly continue to target each other’s relatives with revenge attacks.

In early May 2023, National Police Commissioner Anders Thornberg stated that more than 1,000 people are initiated into criminal gangs across Sweden every year. Despite some arrests, the rate of recruitment shows no sign of slowing down. With three new recruits, many noticeably young, added every day, it is virtually impossible to reduce the total number of active gang members. Thornberg estimated that more than 30,000 people are now involved in gang violence in Sweden. For comparison, he stated that the number of police officers in Sweden is 22,600. The number of gang members already exceeds the number of police and keeps growing at an alarming rate. According to Thornberg, the situation is “extremely serious,” with organized crime infiltrating and corrupting the democratic society, the business world and the public sector.

That Sweden has become one of Europe’s most violent countries has finally attracted international attention. The French newspaper Le Monde lamented “Sweden’s powerlessness in the face of organized violence.” The paper quoted Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson from the Moderate Party stating that the situation is “uncontrollable” and may “get worse before it gets better.” Kristersson labelled the dozens of criminal gangs in Sweden “domestic terrorists.”

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Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer admitted to state broadcaster SVT that with 62 fatal shootings in 2022, Swedish society has clearly failed in the fight against organized crime. Strömmer stated that there is no quick fix to the rise of gang crime in the country and warned it would take time for the government to get a handle on the situation.

Read more: Gatestone Institute