Have I seen this somewhere before ??

Aftonbladet: Russia uses the Koran riots to spread fear
Domestic

4 May 2022

at 10.15


In the face of a supposed yes to a Swedish NATO membership, Russia will try to influence the decision as best it can, and part of this is to take advantage of Rasmus Paludan's manifestations of freedom of expression. That is the opinion of a British think tank with a focus on conflicts in Eurasia that Aftonbladet spoke to.

"It would not be surprising if Russia now steps up its efforts to try to get both Finland and Sweden to opt out of NATO," Keir Giles, head of the Conflict Studies Research Center, told Aftonbladet.

READ ALSO: Säpo warns: NATO skepticism may be Russian influence

Russia has already made it clear that Swedish and Finnish NATO membership will have "political and military consequences" and that it has weapons like no other and does not hesitate to use them when necessary.

According to Giles, Russia will probably not use nuclear weapons as only the threat is enough to intimidate the Western world. He also believes that Russia will do what it can to influence the political landscape in Sweden, among other things by making a yes to NATO associated with fear.

- Russia has always been good at reaching - and exploiting - dissatisfied groups within countries they see as opponents, he says and continues:

READ ALSO: New Russian warning against Swedish NATO membership

- They put a lot of time and effort into using the specific issues that divide countries. In the US they have addressed the race issue, in the UK it was Brexit and in several European countries it has been about migration policy.

Koran riots Russian advantage
Furthermore, Giles believes that in Sweden there are good conditions for Russian influence campaigns to gain a foothold and he takes the Easter weekend's Koran riots as an example. These he claims he can play Russia into the hands of when outraged supporters within both the right-wing and left-wing extremist milieu can be used to destabilize Swedish society.

- They belong to dissatisfied groups and individuals - who become useful idiots - to encourage them to harm the societies they are in, says Keir Giles.

https://samnytt.se/aftonbladet....-ryssland-utnyttjar-