Two years ago, five hundred members of neo-Nazi group the Nordic Resistance Movement took to the streets of Gothenburg. Perhaps liberal politicians unsure of how to crush the group without destroying freedom of speech should seek an answer on the other side of the divide: the parliamentary far-right…

Xander Brett

Scenes of neo-Nazi scuffles came not from Charlottesville, but Gothenburg. On Saturday the ultra-far-right Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) faced battles with police after protesters deviated from an agreed route, leading to arrests of both NRM demonstrators (including their leader, Simon Lindberg) and counter-protestors. Unlike Trump perhaps, the Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, was quick to criticise the Fascist march, saying that “democracy has a right to defend itself”. The arrest of their leader led the NRM’s spokesperson, Pär Öberg, to say that it was likely “the last time” the group will seek police permission to demonstrate. This of course does not necessarily mean that the NRM will never again take to the streets. Far from it. They could return and, without police protection, their uncontrolled presence could be of increased danger to the general public, both physically and ideologically.

“The NRM could return and, without police protection, their uncontrolled presence could be of increased danger to the general public, both physically and ideologically.”

Founded in December 1997 as the ‘Swedish Neo-Nazi Grouping’, the group soon grew to become a pan-Nordic movement, distributing leaflets that praised Adolf Hitler and even establishing undercover training camps in the forests of Sweden. Many think the NRM has become a terrorist organisation.

Naturally, as UKIP dismiss the BNP, Sweden’s mainstream populist party, the Sweden Democrats, were swift to deny all links with the NRM. But with their own founding firmly rooted in the post-war Swedish Fascist Party, one wonders if they can hold the moral high ground. Indeed, some voters may be unlikely to distinguish between the NRM’s Fascism and the anti-immigration, Eurosceptic policies of the Sweden Democrats.

“Some voters are unlikely to distinguish between the NRM’s Fascism and the anti-immigration, Eurosceptic policies of the Sweden Democrats.”

As populist parties rise across Europe, so does awareness of hard-line groups like the NRM. Given the Sweden Democrats hold at least some of the political strings and are, however disturbingly, seen as sisters of the NRM, it is perhaps they who can calm their obscene demonstrations. The polarised members of ultra-far-right groups may never listen to different, liberal viewpoints, and some blame attempts for reason as a crushing of their freedom of speech. But perhaps they will listen to those with similar, if more mellowed opinions.

This article is a Fika Online exclusive.