Johan Forssell says his son is remorseful and has cut off contact with the extremist groups
Sweden’s migration minister says he will not resign after it was revealed his teenage son has links to white supremacist groups.
Johan Forssell confirmed on Thursday that the person named by the anti-racism watchdog Expo recently as being a “close relative” of an unnamed minister and “active in the far right” was his 16-year-old son.
Forssell said he had not known about his son’s activities until he was contacted by the country’s security service a few weeks ago and that he had followed all proper protocol.
“Perhaps many parents can relate to not having a complete picture of what their children are doing on social media,” he told Swedish broadcaster TV4.
Forssell’s comments came after Expo said last week that the close relative of a government minister had “collaborated” with a member of the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR) group.
Expo also said that the relative had been involved with two other extremist groups – allegedly recruiting members into one of them.
Magnus Ranstorp, a veteran terrorism researcher and associate professor at the Swedish Defence University, said the groups the teenager was involved in have become more sophisticated at recruiting young people online.
He told the BBC that they also use members’ physical prowess as a means of attracting new recruits in some cases.
Forssell – who has been openly critical of political extremism and an advocate of greater parental responsibility when it comes to youth involved in crime – says he did not publicly address the allegations when he found out about them out of his duty to his child.
“This has not been about protecting me as a politician, but about protecting a minor,” he said.
Forssell also took to social media to, as he put it, explain the situation in his own words.
He said he and his wife had had “long and important conversations” with their son, who has now “cut off contact and is deeply remorseful”.
“It is a closed chapter,” he added, going on to explain that Sweden’s security service, known as Sapo, had told him that his son’s activities had mainly taken place on social media and that he was not being investigated for a crime.
Dr Ranstorp, who has been involved in many security threat assessments, said the activities of Forssell’s son could have potentially become a security issue if they had progressed, but cautioned that they had not.
He added that the safety of the young man – whose identity has been revealed online – and the right to freedom of expression should also be taken into consideration.
“He will have to live with this for the rest of his life,” Dr Ranstorp said.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson says he “continues to have confidence” in his minister.
“I think that Johan Forssell has acted as a responsible parent should when you learn that your child is doing wrong and is in bad company,” Kristersson wrote on social media.
However, Forssell and the wider Swedish centre-right minority government are facing accusations of double standards and of turning a blind eye when it comes to countering extremism.
The opposition Left Party said on Wednesday that it would summon the minister before a parliamentary committee once lawmakers return from the summer break.
Kristersson’s government has been in power since 2022 and has faced a backlash for working with the Sweden Democrats (SD) – a radical anti-immigration party that was founded by Nazi sympathisers.
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