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At least ten copies of the Koran have been burned in Denmark over the past week. WHAT IS AT THE HEART OF THE ISSUE IN SWEDEN AND DENMARK? WHAT ARE SWEDEN AND DENMARK DOING NOW? Nevertheless, both Sweden and Denmark say they are examining ways to legally limit burnings to de-escalate tensions with Muslim nations. WHAT NEXT FOR THE LAW IN DENMARK AND SWEDEN?

Persons: Salwan Momika, Rasmus Paludan, Desecrating, Prophet Mohammad, Angel Gabriel, Tom Little, Susie Jessen, Tayyip Erdogan, Johan Ahlander, Johannes Birkebaek, Ahmed Rasheed, Gwladys Fouche, Andrew Heavens Organizations: WHO, Danish Patriots, NATO, REUTERS, Denmark Democrats, Reuters, Sweden's, Thomson Locations: COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Sweden, Iraq, Swedish, SWEDEN, DENMARK, Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen, Tom Little Denmark, Baghdad, East, Stockholm

Although only two people were expected to take part, the organisers said they would tear up and burn the Koran. Sweden sought NATO membership in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. But alliance member Ankara has held up the process, accusing Sweden of harbouring people it considers terrorists and demanding their extradition. While Swedish police have rejected several recent applications for anti-Koran demonstrations, courts have overruled those decisions, saying they infringed on freedom of speech. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at a press conference on Wednesday he would not speculate about how the approved Koran burning could affect Sweden's NATO process.

Persons: Ulf Kristersson, Kristersson, Momika, Rasmus Paludan, Paludan, Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Marie Mannes, Johan Ahlander, Terje Solsvik, Peter Graff, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Police, NATO, Islam, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Swedish, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, Stockholm, Turkey, Sweden, Ukraine, Ankara, Danish, Turkish, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Copenhagen

☆ Turkey's NATO talks with Sweden and Finland to resume on March 9
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday that talks with Sweden and Finland regarding their NATO membership bids would resume on March 9, after being suspended in January in the wake of a Koran-burning protest in Stockholm. "It is not possible for us to say "yes" to Sweden's NATO bid before we see these steps." Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the North Atlantic defence alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine, but Sweden in particular has faced unexpected objections from Turkey. Ankara accuses Stockholm of harbouring what it considers members of terrorist groups, and has demanded their extradition as a step towards giving Sweden's NATO membership its green light. The United States and other NATO countries are hoping that the two Nordic countries become members of the alliance at a NATO summit due to be held in July 11 in Lithuania's capital Vilnius.

[1/2] NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attends a news conference on the day of NATO defence ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Johanna GeronBRUSSELS, Feb 23 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday he saw progress in stalled talks with Turkey on Sweden's membership bid and aimed to have both Sweden and Finland join the alliance by the time of its July summit. Ankara accuses Stockholm of harbouring what Turkey considers members of terrorist groups, and has demanded their extradition as a step towards giving Sweden's NATO membership its green light. "So it's inconceivable that Finland or Sweden will face any military threats from Russia without NATO reacting." He has repeatedly cited the post-Soviet enlargement of the NATO alliance eastwards toward his borders as a reason for what he called Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine.

☆ NATO chief says 'time is now' for Turkey to ratify Finland and Sweden membership bids
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Huseyin Hayatsever | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday the "time is now" for Turkey to ratify applications by Finland and Sweden to join the defence alliance. Finland and Sweden applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year and their membership bids have been ratified by all allies except Hungary and Turkey. Turkey says Sweden harbors members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is seen as a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and others. "For me, this just demonstrates that Sweden and Finland understand and are implementing policies which recognize the concerns that Turkey expressed. Cavusoglu repeated Turkey's position that it could evaluate Finland and Sweden's bids to join NATO separately.

☆ Sweden to tighten terrorism law amid tensions with Turkey over NATO bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Sweden's Minister of Justice Gunnar Strommer attends a press conference at the first informal ministerial meeting during the Swedish EU Presidency, Stockholm, Sweden, January 26, 2023. Sweden committed to ramping up cooperation with Turkey in fighting terrorism as part of an agreement reached in June aimed at overcoming Ankara's objections to Sweden and Finland becoming members of NATO. Turkey suspended talks last month, saying Sweden was not doing enough, after protests in Stockholm including that by Paludan. "Our position on Finland is positive, but it is not positive on Sweden," Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine, but faced unexpected objections from Turkey and have since sought to win its support.

☆ Fact Check-Video shows 2021 Koran burning incident in Denmark, not Sweden in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Footage from 2021 of a man burning a Koran on a street in Denmark is being shared online with the implication that it shows a far-right politician’s stunt in Sweden earlier this month. The clip shows an individual blowtorching a copy of the religious text and being attacked in response by a group of masked men. Social media users posted the clip on Jan. 27 and said it showed an incident in Sweden (here) (here) (here). However, the footage was captured in 2021 in Denmark. The clip was part of a wider 50-minute Facebook Live broadcast on the Stram Kurs page on Feb. 27, 2021 (timestamp 32:07, here).

☆ Russia's war in Ukraine backfired by uniting NATO, even as cracks emerged over nearly a year of fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Jake Epstein | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

When Putin invaded Ukraine, he miscalculated the response from Western countries. NATO has been largely united in its response to Russia's war, consistently providing Kyiv with military aid. Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively succeeded in remaking the Western bloc, Araud said, adding that "the Western alliance is back." After the Soviet Union collapsed, both Finland and Sweden became NATO partner countries but stopped short of pursuing full membership. Even under the intense pressure of war, the alliance is "holding the way that they have in the past," he said.

☆ Sweden tells citizens to avoid crowds in Turkey after Koran burning
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

STOCKHOLM, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Sweden's foreign ministry on Saturday warned Swedes in Turkey to avoid crowds and demonstrations following protests there over the burning of the Koran by a far-right politician in Stockholm last week. Paludan's actions have led to demonstrations in a number of Muslim countries as well as in Turkey. "Swedes in Turkey are asked to stay updated on the development of events and to avoid large gatherings and demonstrations," the foreign ministry said on its advice page for Swedes abroad. "Continued demonstrations can be expected outside the embassy in Ankara and the consulate general in Istanbul in the coming days." Burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act," Kristersson said on Twitter.

☆ Right-wing Quran burning in Sweden enrages Turkey and throws a new wrench in Nordics’ NATO bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Rasmus Paludan holds a burning Koran outside of the Turkish embassy on January 21, 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden. Jonas Gratzer | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesOn Saturday, far-right demonstrators burned a Quran and chanted anti-Muslim slogans in front of Turkey's embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Several media outlets and independent journalist gather to see Rasmus Paludan stage a Koran burning outside the Turkish embassy on January 21, 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reportedly denounced the protest as an act of "sabotage" against the country's NATO membership bid. Nonetheless, he expressed confidence that Turkey would approve his country's NATO bid.

☆ Finland says a 'time-out' is needed in talks with Turkey over Nordic NATO membership
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto arrives for the meeting of the NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest, Romania, on November 30, 2022. Finland is calling for a "time-out" in talks with Turkey over Finnish and Swedish accession to NATO, after a series of events between Turkey and Sweden spiked fresh tensions and acrimony. "A time-out is needed before we return to the three-way talks and see where we are when the dust has settled after the current situation, so no conclusions should be drawn yet ... I think there will be a break for a couple of weeks," Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told Reuters in an interview published Tuesday. "Those who allow such blasphemy in front of our embassy can no longer expect our support for their NATO membership," Erdogan said.

☆ Erdogan to Sweden: Don't expect Turkish support for NATO bid after Stockholm protest
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Sweden should not expect Turkey's support for its NATO membership after a protest near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm at the weekend including the burning of a copy of the Koran, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. "Those who allow such blasphemy in front of our embassy (in Stockholm) can no longer expect our support for their NATO membership," Erdogan said in a speech after a cabinet meeting. "But Sweden will respect the agreement that exists between Sweden, Finland and Turkey regarding our NATO membership," he added. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine but all 30 member states must approve their bids. Turkey had already summoned Sweden's ambassador about the incident, cancelled a planned visit by Swedish defence minister to Ankara and strongly condemned the event.

☆ Protests in Stockholm, including Koran-burning, draw condemnation from Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Permitting this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. The Turkish ministry urged Sweden to take necessary actions against the perpetrators and invited all countries to take concrete steps against Islamophobia. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said that Islamophobic provocations were appalling. "Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence, and rejects hatred and extremism," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "We will continue our opposition to the Swedish NATO application," Thomas Pettersson, spokesperson for Alliance Against NATO and one of organizers of the demonstration, told Reuters.

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