Sweden’s child soldiers

“Looking for murderers for Denmark… We are not amateurs. Respond only if you are serious.”

In messages like these, posted on Telegram and other social media, criminals in Denmark are looking across the border, offering hundreds of thousands of kronor to potential mercenaries in Sweden for violent acts, from murder to planting explosives.

It seems to be working. On the first day of August, two Swedish teenagers were arrested in Denmark for attempted murder after two separate shootings, one in central Copenhagen, the other in Kolding, a smaller city west of the capital. Less than a week later, a Swedish 17-year-old was arrested after another shooting in Copenhagen. According to Peter Hummelgaard, the minister of justice, there have been 25 incidents since April in which what he calls Swedish “child soldiers” have attempted to carry out violent acts.

Danish politicians have been quick to react, announcing measures including stricter border controls at the Øresund Bridge. Hummelgaard blamed years of failed integration policies in Sweden and warned against “the Swedish condition” spreading to Denmark, calling it a “sick and raw” culture.

Swedish criminals are known for cheap, easy violence. Meanwhile, the social media account of a Danish state radio station published a meme with the headline “things we buy from Sweden when the krona is weak,” featuring images of chocolate bars, tobacco products and candy, alongside a gun and a grenade.

There are also problems in Sweden’s other neighbouring countries. Norwegian police say Swedish gangs have spread across the country and fear that Norwegian criminals will be inspired by their tactics, which mainly recruit the very young. Meanwhile, Haparanda, a small border town in the far north of Sweden, is becoming a major transit point for the Finnish drug trade. In Sweden itself, there have been 29 fatal shootings so far this year.

There’s a place near where I live in Stockholm, an English pub full of football memorabilia, that holds regular quizzes and serves typical Swedish food, from shrimp sandwiches to meatballs and lingonberry jam. On any sunny afternoon, the outdoor terrace is filled with young families, Swedish hipsters in trucker hats and functional outdoor clothing.

On the first Saturday in August, a 25-year-old man was shot dead by an attacker coming off the street. A few years ago, the reaction would have been shock, a feeling that something like this could never happen here. But today, no Swedish neighborhood is immune to gang violence.

Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer told a press conference earlier in August that Swedish politicians had been “naive and passive,” and called Denmark a role model for its work to overhaul criminal policy. Denmark has often been praised for its policies against gang crime by Swedish politicians, who want to see a tougher, more ruthless approach.

Danish police have been using “stop-and-search” zones for more than 20 years, and Sweden has been trialing them in several cities for the first time this year, with mixed results. There have been many objections and accusations of profiling, particularly after Martin Melin, legal spokesman for the Liberal Party, told reporters: “Not everyone who wears a fake Gucci cap is a criminal. But a lot of criminals do wear fake Gucci caps.”

Other policies include longer sentences, lowering the age of criminal responsibility and geographic exclusion orders. But experts warn against focusing too much on harsher sentences, pointing to a range of broader factors, from housing to education policy.

Despite a turbulent summer, statistics suggest Sweden will have a calmer year than 2022 or 2023, when gang violence peaked. And as Swedish police have pointed out, responsibility for Denmark’s latest violence cannot be placed entirely on Sweden’s shoulders. After all, it’s criminals in Denmark looking for murderers.

Joshua Worth is a journalist based in Sweden. His writing has appeared in the Financial Times, TES and the Independent