Swedish Integration Minister canceled safety walk – deemed too unsafe

Swedish Liberal Party leader and Minister for Employment and Integration Johan Pehrson was due to go on a safety walk with local police officers in Gothenburg, but had to cancel the walk after warnings from the Swedish Security Service (Säpo). The reason was that the Minister’s safety could not be guaranteed.

The purpose of the safety walk in Biskopsgården, on Friday last week, was to visit the vulnerable neighborhood to meet residents and discuss issues related to safety. However, the visit to the district was canceled at short notice after the party received information that Pehrson’s safety could be threatened if he were to carry out the walk.

– We received information via Säpo. The explanation we received is that his safety could not be guaranteed during the visit, the Liberals’ press office told the Swedish Bonnier newspaper Expressen.

However, Säpo, The Swedish Security Service, could neither “confirm nor deny” the security situation for the minister or why it recommended that the hike be canceled.

– I can’t answer that kind of question. It’s about the protection of our people, which security personnel we are responsible for, says Säpo press officer Karl Melin.

Local police officers were to join the security walk, but state that they did not participate in the decision to cancel the walk.

Biskopsgården is classified by the police as a “vulnerable area”, which means, among other things, that the area has “a low socio-economic status where the criminals have an impact on the local community”.