Swedish minister confirms teenage son was linked to extremist groups

Sweden’s Migration Minister Johan Forssell says he will not resign after it was revealed his teenage son has links to white supremacist groups, the BBC writes.

Johan Forssell confirmed on Thursday that the person named by the anti-racism watchdog Expo recently as being a “close relative” of an unnamed minister and “active in the far right” was his 16-year-old son.

The minister said he had not known about his son’s activities until he was contacted by the country’s security service a few weeks ago and that he had followed all proper protocol.

“Perhaps many parents can relate to not having a complete picture of what their children are doing on social media,” he told Swedish broadcaster TV4.

Forssell’s comments came after Expo said last week that the close relative of a government minister had “collaborated” with a member of the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR) group.

Expo also said that the relative had been involved with two other extremist groups – allegedly recruiting members into one of them.

He said he and his wife had had “long and important conversations” with their son, who has now “cut off contact and is deeply remorseful”.

“It is a closed chapter,” he added, going on to explain that Sweden’s security service, known as Sapo, had told him that his son’s activities had mainly taken place on social media and that he was not being investigated for a crime.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson says he “continues to have confidence” in his minister.