Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right political party Hard Line, carried out the incident of burning the Quran. Paludan, who also holds Swedish citizenship, has held several demonstrations in the past where he has burnt Qurans.
Paludan could not immediately be reached by email for comment. In the permit obtained from the police, it says their protest was against Islam and what Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called an attempt to influence freedom of expression in Sweden.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but all 30 member states must accept their bids. Turkey has said Sweden in particular should first take a clearer stance against those it sees as terrorists, mainly Kurdish militants and a group responsible for the 2016 coup attempt.
In a demonstration of opposing Sweden’s NATO bid and showing support for the Kurds, the speaker stood in front of a large red banner that read “We are the PKK”. among other countries, and addressed several hundred pro-Kurdish and leftist supporters.
“We will continue to oppose the Swedish NATO application,” said Thomas Pettersen, spokesman for the Alliance Against NATO and one of the organizers of the demonstration.
Police said the situation remained calm in all the three demonstrations.