The Swedish authorities accused Russian state-controlled media outlets of falsely claiming that the Swedish government supported the Quran burning.
“They repeat narratives that Sweden supports the burning of the Qur’an and that Sweden is an Islamophobic country and hostile against Islam,” they said. “We’re not very surprised because Russia is using narratives that make Sweden look bad and make it harder to join NATO.”
Officials highlighted that the strategy was coming from the top. “Everything is approved by the Kremlin so it comes from the government of Russia. The narrative is in line with what the Kremlin wants them to do.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, alluded to foreign actors playing a role in the Quran burnings, accusing outsiders of using the country as “a stage for spreading hateful messages”.
Speaking in Stockholm, hours after the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation condemned the protests and called for United Nations intervention, he said such acts were “dragging Sweden into international conflicts”.
Valentyna Shapovalova, a PhD fellow at the University of Copenhagen who studies Russian propaganda and disinformation, asserted that the Quran burnings in Sweden were “difficult to avoid” across Russian media, where they were reported on almost daily.
