Advertisement

'It would have been a fight': Former Swedish PM enrages Denmark and Norway with WW2 tweet

Author thumbnail
'It would have been a fight': Former Swedish PM enrages Denmark and Norway with WW2 tweet
A Swedish light tank Strv m/31 used in World War II. Photo: Wikipedia Commons

Sweden's former prime minister has enraged the country's neighbours by suggesting in a tweet that if Sweden had been invaded by Nazi Germany, it would have put up more of a fight than Denmark and Norway did.

Advertisement

In a tweet to mark the 81st anniversary of the invasion of Denmark and Norway, Carl Bildt, who served as prime minister between 1991 and 1994, claimed that Germany's fascist leader Adolf Hitler would have struggled to overrun Sweden.

"The defense forces of Sweden in 1940 weren’t stellar, but still stronger than Norway and in particular than Denmark. Had Hitler decided to invade Sweden, it would have been a fight," he tweeted.

Advertisement

Bildt was immediately put in his place by the former Norwegian footballer Jan Aage Fjortoft, who pointed out that Sweden had not only remained neutral, but had actually allowed Nazi Germany to transport troops and weaponry through its territory to Norway.

"The former Prime Minister of Sweden with this week’s most stupid tweet," he wrote. "Sweden let German soldiers travel through their country to fight in North Norway in 1940."

Sylvi Listhaug, deputy leader of Norway's Progress Party, made much the same point, telling Norway's VG newspaper that the comment was misjudged.

"It's extremely rash of a former Swedish prime minister to come out with this kind of comment when we all know the role Sweden played in the war while both Denmark and Norway were invaded by the Germans," she said.

"While we were under pressure, Sweden allowed the Germans to transport both weapons and soldiers through their country during the war."

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

Anonymous 2021/04/11 14:00
well, i don't really understand why there are politicians who publish this kind of stupidities on the internet it could very well be a drunken rant on a bar by some nationalist, yet putting this up as a pm will only show your ignorance or complete disregard for truth, and will be exposed really quickly
Anonymous 2021/04/11 01:11
Funny. Really funny.
Anonymous 2021/04/10 19:25
Action counts more than speak

See Also