The spillover of Swedish gang criminality to neighbouring countries was met with thinly veiled criticism at the 2024 Nordic Council in Reykjavik on Tuesday (29 October).

The prime ministers of Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland met in the Icelandic capital for a meeting of the regional cooperative body on ‘Peace and Security in the Arctic’ – though the topic of Swedish organised crime unexpectedly featured prominently during discussions.

“We have focused on deepening our co-operation to combat cross-border organised crime”, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (Moderates, EPP) said at the press conference with his Nordic counterparts.

The subject of organised crime the region is back in the spotlight after Swedish gangs expanded their operations to neighbouring Denmark, Norway and Finland, where their particularly violent methods are worrying authorities.

Sweden has one of the highest per capita rates of gun violence in the EU, with 55 fatal shootings in 363 incidents last year – far more than the combined total of six fatal shootings in Denmark, Norway and Finland.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (Social Democrats, S&D), whose country is particularily affected by spillovers from southern Sweden, just across the Øresund Strait, did not mince her words.

“Criminals are hired in Sweden to enter Denmark and commit serious crimes in Denmark, especially in Copenhagen. It is completely unacceptable. We are working closely with Sweden to put an end to this.”, she said.

According to Frederiksen, the spillover is destroying the “whole way of thinking as Nordic countries”.

In August, Denmark announced that it would introduce border controls with Sweden, following a resurgence of Swedish gang violence in the country.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labour, S&D) also expressed his displeasure with the situation.

“In Norway, we see these elements coming from Sweden in all police districts” he said, welcoming the fact that his Swedish counterpart has been “open about the issue”.

For Støre, gang crime is a “key issue”, describing it as a serious threat to the integrity and security of Nordic citizens.

“There are very young people being recruited into criminal activities, and this must be met with a firm hand”.

In response, a Nordic hub of police officers from Finland, Norway, and Denmark will be set up in Stockholm, the Swedish government announced earlier this year.

Nordic leaders also agreed at the Reykjavik meeting to facilitate communication between local and national authorities across borders, to ensure sustainable migration to the EU and the Nordic region in the future.

“When we talk about migration, we also talk about crime,” Frederiksen said, adding that the Nordic countries’ migration policies had been “blind for far too long”, and she was pleased that they were now being discussed more openly.

[Edited by Owen Morgan]