Sweden Calls for Nordic Effort to Stop Gun Crime From Spreading
(Bloomberg) -- Sweden will work with governments and authorities in the Nordic region to prevent gang violence from spilling over borders, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said after a spate of violent crime by Swedish perpetrators in Denmark.
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The pledge comes as Denmark has tightened controls at its borders to Sweden following a number of shootings in Copenhagen. Police registered at least 25 cases where Danish gangs enlisted young Swedes to commit violent crimes in the capital city between April and early August, according to Denmark’s justice minister Peter Hummelgaard.
The gangs are fighting each other and have reached out across the border to recruit teenagers for attacks against their opponents. Such recruitment has been made easier by recent years’ surge in gun violence in Sweden, where boys in their early teens have been involved as both victims and perpetrators.
“We need to take responsibility for what we can impact in the same way that Denmark needs to take responsibility for what they can do,” Strommer said. “What we are talking about now are Danish criminal networks that are recruiting people in Sweden to commit crimes in Denmark, so we obviously have a mutual responsibility.”
Danish police have now established a permanent presence in Sweden, strengthening what Strommer called an already close cooperation. Swedish authorities are also working with counterparts in Finland and Norway to prevent cross-border crime.
“The Nordic region is an integrated market in many ways, and of course that is also true when it comes to crime,” Strommer said.
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