INTERNACIONAL
Sweden’s Eurovision Song Contest to have strict security due to heightened threat of terrorism, police say
- Security for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, will be tight due to potential unrest and terrorism threats, according to police.
- Pro-Palestinian activists are planning rallies in downtown Malmo, advocating for Israel’s exclusion from Eurovision.
- Sweden elevated its terror threat level to «high» last year due to escalating security concerns, including protests over Quran burnings.
Security will be tight during next month’s Eurovision Song Contest in the southern Sweden city of Malmo, police said Wednesday, citing demonstrations that could lead to unrests and a heightened threat of terrorism in the Scandinavian country.
«The security is going to be rigorous,» Petra Stenkula, head of police area in Malmo, said according to Swedish broadcaster TV4.
Pro-Palestinian activists who want Israel out of the Eurovision Song Contest have announced large rallies in downtown Malmo, several miles from the Malmo Arena contest venue.
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Last year Sweden heightened its terror threat level one notch to «high,» the fourth of five levels, for the first time since 2016 amid a deteriorating security situation following recent burnings of the Quran that triggered protests in the Muslim world.
Members of the band «Kalush Orchestra» pose onstage with the winner’s trophy and Ukraine’s flag after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 on May 14, 2022. Security will be tight during next month’s Eurovision Song Contest in the southern Sweden city of Malmo, police said on Wednesday, citing demonstrations that could lead to unrest and a heightened threat of terrorism in the Scandinavian country. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)
Police said Wednesday that an application to stage a demonstration in Malmo to burn a copy of the Quran before the song contest had been handed in.
There is no law in Sweden specifically prohibiting the burning or desecration of religious texts. Like many Western countries, Sweden doesn’t have any blasphemy laws.
«Freedom of expression is strong in Sweden,» Stenkula said, according to the Malmo newspaper, Sydsvenska. «Now we first have to assess the application that has been received, then we have to see if it gets permission.»
She told a press conference that Swedish police will get reinforcements from across the country as well as from Norway and Denmark. She didn’t provide details.
«We have terror threat level four, so we cannot empty the whole of Sweden of police officers» during the song contest, Stenkula said.
The live televised final is scheduled for May 11, with semi-finals on May 7 and May 9.
Pro-Palestinian activists have planned two large demonstrations to protest Israel’s participation, as conflict in the Middle East threatens to overshadow the feelgood pop music festival. Activists and some musicians have urged the European Broadcasting Union, the event organizer, to drop Israel from the event over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
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Last week, EBU Deputy Director General Jean Philip De Tender said that the organization understood «the depth of feeling and the strong opinions» that this year’s Eurovision Song Contest has provoked, but «»firmly oppose any form of online abuse, hate speech, or harassment directed at our artists or any individuals associated with the contest.»
Launched in 1956 to foster unity after World War II, Eurovision has become a campy, feel-good celebration of pop music with an audience of hundreds of millions around the world. It has grown from seven countries to almost 40, including non-European nations such as Israel and Australia.
Organizers strive to keep politics out of the contest, not always successfully. Russia has been banned since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Sweden won last year’s contest in Liverpool, England, with the power ballad «Tattoo» by singer Loreen. The host country usually is the winner of the previous year’s event.
Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city, hosted Eurovision in 1992 and 2013.
INTERNACIONAL
Israel keeping its ‘eyes open’ for Iranian attacks during Trump transition period, ambassador says
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon tells Fox News Digital that his country is keeping its «eyes open» for any potential aggression from Iran during the Trump transition period, adding it would be a «mistake» for the Islamic Republic to carry out an attack.
The comments come after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vowed earlier this week that Iran would retaliate against Israel for the strategic airstrikes it carried out against Tehran on Oct. 26. Araghchi was quoted in Iranian media saying «we have not given up our right to react, and we will react in our time and in the way we see fit.»
«I would advise him not to challenge us. We have already shown our capabilities. We have proved that they are vulnerable. We can actually target any location in Iran. They know that,» Danon told Fox News Digital.
«So I would advise them not to make that mistake. If they think that now, because of the transition period, they can take advantage of it, they are wrong,» he added. «We are keeping our eyes open and we are ready for all scenarios.»
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Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon tells Fox News Digital that his country is «ready for all scenarios» coming from Iran during the Trump transition period. (Fox News)
Danon says he believes one of the most important challenges for the incoming Trump administration will be the way the U.S. deals with Iran.
«Regarding the new administration, I think the most important challenge will be the way you challenge Iran, the aggression, the threat of the Iranian regime. I believe that the U.S. will have to go back to a leading position on this issue,» he told Fox News Digital.
«We are fighting the same enemies, the enemies of the United States of America. When you look at the Iranians, the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, all those bad actors that are coming against Israel… that is the enemy of the United States. So I think every American should support us and understand what we are doing now,» Danon also said.
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Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is acknowledged by President-elect Donald Trump alongside Speaker of the House Mike Johnson during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13, 2024. Stefanik has been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. (Allison Robbert/Pool via REUTERS)
Danon spoke as the U.S. vetoed a draft resolution against Israel at the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.
The resolution, which was overseen by Algeria, sought an «immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire» to be imposed on Israel. The resolution did not guarantee the release of the hostages still being held by Hamas within Gaza.
Israeli Air Force planes departing for the strikes in Iran on Oct. 26. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)
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«It was a shameful resolution because… it didn’t have the linkage between the cease-fire and the call [for] the release of the hostages. And I want to thank the United States for taking a strong position and vetoing this resolution,» Danon said. «I think it sent a very clear message that the U.S. stands with its strongest ally with Israel. And, you know, it was shameful, too, to hear the voices of so many ambassadors speaking about a cease-fire but abandoning the 101 hostages. We will not forget them. We will never abandon them. We will continue to fight until we bring all of them back home.»
Fox News’ Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.
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