Free Republic

Finland’s Ministry of Defence Carl Haglund says he believes Russia’s actions in Ukraine have brought Finland and Sweden closer to NATO now than they ever were in the past. During his party’s conference in the southern coastal city of Hanko on Saturday, the Swedish People’s Party (RKP) Chair Carl Haglund spoke of the Ukraine crisis and its ramifications, defending Ukraine’s right to sovereignty and self-determination. “In a free Europe, every country is free to decide on its own development, without an army situated behind the border threatening to barge in,” said Haglund. Haglund says he is of the opinion that...

Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) chief Alana Bjørnland suggests that Ukraine crisis has led to increase of Russian intelligence activities in Norway against the petroleum sector and policy makers. In an interview with TV2, the chief of the PST warns against Russian spies in Norway. She also adds that it’s not only Russian intelligence which is active in Norway, there are other states that need information. But she avoids naming other countries than Russia. - I do not want to comment specifically on the country except for Russia, which is also a player in crisis in Ukraine. PST boss told...

Russia has cut a deal with Sudan to deliver a dozen advanced MiG-29 Fulcrum jet fighters to the war-torn country. The deal, announced Christmas Day in Moscow, also includes 14 MiG-29 jets for Yemen. The transfer of fourth-generation MiG-29 Fulcrums to Sudan has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and is certain to alter any possible U.S. plans for air strikes at known terrorist bases inside the African nation. Sudan was cited as one of a limited number of nations with direct links to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. The U.S. State Department also listed Sudan as one of a few hostile ...

You might not associate target practice with Swedish past-times, but a Stockholm shooting range has seen a four-fold increase in clients since 2007. The Local's Deepti Vashisht talks stag parties, gun licences, and stress-busting CEOs with the club's manager. In a Stockholm suburb, The Target lays claim to a dark basement, the gloom broken only by door stoppers in the shape of giant rats with glowing red eyes. Gun shots and the stand-clear beep sound every 30 seconds. "People often ask whether the guns are real? Are these airguns or BB guns?" says Thomas Amnebring, manager of The Target, of...

Hate to keep reminding you all of the charming deeds of those who follow the “religion of peace,” but someone has to sound the clarion call. Here are some more examples of how “coexist” is working out. According to a report by Pamela Engel writing for Business Insider, “Earlier this month, late at night, insurgents (aka Islamic terrorists) captured more than 200 teenage girls from a school in northern Nigeria, an area of the country that has been infiltrated by the terror group (aka Islamic terrorists) Boko Haram. Its aim is to stop Westernization and create an Islamic state ruled...

The Swedish government has announced plans to beef up its defence forces by fitting its fleet of Gripen fighter jets with long-range cruise missiles. Defence Minister Karin Enström said the high-precision missiles would chiefly act as a deterrent to other countries that might be considering an attack on Sweden. “They would give new capabilities by offering a longer reach, but also the ability to fight targets that are further away,” she told Sveriges Radio (SR) on Thursday. She said the move would “increase the effectiveness” of Sweden’s defence. The cruise missiles would be added to the next generation of Gripen...

The West’s standoff with Russia over Ukraine is triggering debate over the adequacy of defence spending and cooperation to confront a more assertive Russia across Europe. In Finland and Sweden, an important element in this debate is whether the two countries should join NATO, STRATFOR reported. While the events in Ukraine strengthen the argument for NATO membership, general support for the idea is still lacking in both countries — such a step would represent a big shift from Finland’s and Sweden’s strategy of avoiding too strong a military alignment with the West in order to prevent any conflict with Russia....

Ikea stores in Hong Kong have unexpectedly sold out of a stuffed toy wolf, the Swedish furniture giant announced on Tuesday, after it became the unlikely symbol of opposition to the city's unpopular government. Hundreds of the stuffed toys, called Lufsig, flew off the shelves within hours on Monday and again on Tuesday, days after an anti-government protester threw it at the city's leader Leung Chun-ying during a weekend public meeting. "Lufsig has been sold out at all Ikea stores this morning," a spokeswoman said, adding that there were queues before the store opened. The innocent-looking toy depicts the wolf...

IKEA presents itself as the champion of affordable home furnishings. But it appears that the store’s definition of affordable varies dramatically according to the country it is operating in. British families are being charged about 70 percent more for some items of furniture compared with their counterparts on the Continent. … For example, IKEA’s popular Friheten corner sofa bed costs £525 ($796) if bought in its British stores—some 71 percent more than the £307 ($461) charged in Poland, and also considerably more than the £344 ($522) in Spain and Germany. The sofa is also cheaper in IKEA’s home country of...

CBS/ReutersMarch 5, 2014, 11:01 AM Vladimir Putin nominated for Nobel Peace Prize OSLO -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has been nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize but the conflict in Ukraine is also likely to be on the Nobel committee's agenda. A record 278 candidates, including 47 organizations, received nominations for the 2014 prize, said the Norwegian Nobel Institute's director, Geir Lundestad. Committee members who met on Tuesday added their own proposals with a focus on recent turmoil around the globe. "Part of the purpose of the committee's first meeting is to take into account recent events, and committee...

Like I said on a previous post yesterday regarding similar Islamic insurgencies in Sweden and across Europe, we see a continuing escalation of this low-grade civil war in Europe. What next, walled off city-states? One thing is for certain. Europe is going to explode. But what is paramount and top priority is — the silencing of critics of Islam. That is the obsession of the EU and member states. Sharia compliance. “Native French under Attack in Muslim Areas,” By Dale Hurd, CBN, April 10, 2014

On April 4 2014, in Malmö District Court in Sweden, the provocative artist Dan Park was sentenced to three months in jail for hate speech (“hets mot folkgrupp”) for his works of art. The prosecutor even wanted the artist examined for mental illness, similar to the way Communist dictatorships have treated dissidents. The court did not support this suggestion, however. Park and his defense lawyer have indicated that they will appeal the verdict.Ingrid Carlqvist, the editor of the newspaper Dispatch International, commented that the verdict essentially amounts to a ban on satire in Sweden, at least if the satire involves ideologically protected immigrant...

A new law put into effect on Tuesday completely outlaws sexual intercourse with animals in Sweden. For the last 70 years, the penal code has avoided mention of bestiality, as the laws on animal cruelty were seen as adequate to cover such assault. Previous rules only prohibited sex with animals if it could be proved that the animal suffered mental or physical harm. The move was backed by Rural Affairs Minister Eskil Erlandsson who has long been behind a push to make bestiality illegal in Sweden. "There should be no doubt whatsoever that bestiality is unacceptable," he said in June....

Sweden's EU Minister Birgitta Ohlsson says she is saddened and outraged that secret talks with Romania about the Central European country's poorest citizens have broken down. Hotel head sends open apology to Roma guest (28 Mar 14) Swedish store 'sorry' for dousing beggar (21 Mar 14) Police evict Romanians from Stockholm camp (13 Mar 14) "We have a more empathetic view of these people," Ohlsson told Dagens Nyheter (DN) on Tuesday. "I think that other countries, not least Romania, are surprised by how we see things." The Swedish government had been holding closed-door meetings with their Romanian colleagues for months....

Soviet Sweden? Model Nation Sliding to Third World By Dale Hurd CBN News Sr. Reporter Wednesday, April 02, 2014 STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- When President Barack Obama visited Sweden last year, he expressed his deep admiration for the Swedish model. But that should make Americans a little nervous. One U.N. report says Sweden will be a third-world nation in about 15 years, below Libya and Bulgaria. Sweden is a society that believes it is racing into the future, but critics warn that it is racing to the bottom. It has been a laboratory for all kinds of social experiments: Swedish leaders...

STOCKHOLM/HELSINKI (Reuters) - When Russian warplanes staged a mock bombing run on Sweden last year, air defences were caught napping. It was the middle of the night and no Swedish planes were scrambled.

A 10-month-old baby girl was rushed to hospital after she was attacked and dragged out of her pram by an American staffordshire terrier in northern Sweden. The attack took place in Härnösand when the dog suddenly jumped into the child's pram and bit the infant. After managing to get a hold of the baby the dog then dragged the child down a hill before witnesses intervened.

This fifth or sixth century A.D. statue of the Buddha from northern India was found in a Viking treasure horde on the Swedish island of Helgö. Globalization is clearly not a recent phenomenon... [F]ew people got around as much as the Vikings. From their Scandinavian coves they visited, raided, traded with and settled in lands from Newfoundland to Baghdad. They conquered Britain, terrorized Ireland and France, settled Iceland, raided Spain and ranged throughout the Mediterranean basin. They established a major presence in Russia, the Ukraine and the Crimea, sending their longboats down the Volga into the Black Sea. They raided...

The Western institutionalization of sharia norms. A Swedish art professor has applauded Apple’s promise to diversify its emoticon options, including figures wearing religious headgear such as the hijab. “It’s great, we need people with different skin colours among the emojis, and people with different clothes, from the hijab to the kippa,” illustration professor Joanna Rubin Dranger at Stockholm’s Konstfack academy told the TT news wire on Thursday. The website DoSomething.org first let the battle cry sound, asking Apple to take a closer look at its 800 emojis. “The only two resembling people of colour are a guy who looks vaguely...

In 2005, Lockheed Martin labeled the F-35, the stealthy new jet they were building for the Pentagon, as a “fifth-generation” fighter. Ironically, it was a term that they had borrowed from Russia to describe a different stealthy fighter, the F-22. But the term caught on. Some of Lockheed’s rivals tumbled into this rhetorical trap and tried to argue that “fourth-generation” was just as capable—whether it is true or not, making such a case is an uphill struggle. But if “fifth-generation” means more than “the ultimate driving machine,” a sixth generation will emerge. Saab—yes, that Saab—can argue that it has built...