Sweden Democrats leader questions if devout Muslims can be Swedish

The leader of the Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Åkesson, has said he struggles to see how a devout Muslim can simultaneously be Swedish, according to a new documentary by public broadcaster SVT.

Åkesson’s comments come in response to Liberal Party leader Simona Mohamsson’s vision of a “blue-and-yellow Islam,” which she described as Swedish Muslims celebrating Eid with family, following Arab or Turkish soap operas during Ramadan, and being part of Sweden’s shared values.

“I don’t think you could use that term because there’s an inherent contradiction in it,” Åkesson said in the documentary. “If you’re Muslim, you don’t separate the secular from the spiritual—Islam comes first.”

When asked directly whether a devout Muslim could also be Swedish, Åkesson replied: “If we assume that as a Muslim, you put Islam above everything else—that it should govern your own life, the lives of others, society, and laws—then I find it hard to see how you can also be Swedish.”

The documentary, titled Jimmie Åkesson – Can You Handle the Pressure?, follows the Sweden Democrats leader from his home district of Sölvesborg to political meetings in Stockholm and a controversial visit to a conference in Israel.