Minister for Migration Johan Forssell (The Moderate Party) stated on TV4 on Thursday that his son in his younger teens had been involved in violent right-wing extremist circles. This was revealed by the newspaper Expo recently, without the minister's name being mentioned.
At a press conference later in the day, Busch was asked how great a security risk the son's relationships had posed for the government.
It is clear that if a person who is close to someone in the central government has connections to extreme environments, then there is every reason to be very careful and cautious, says Ebba Busch.
However, she feels secure with the measures taken after the information reached Forssell and the Government Offices a couple of weeks ago.
But how great the security risk was before the information reached the government, Busch does not want to go into, and refers to the Security Service.
No double standards
Busch also received questions about how the government's policy and its credibility can be affected by what has happened. The government has had a high profile on both parental responsibility and against violent extremism.
Busch thinks that Forssell, by going out and talking about his son, clearly shows that the government does not have double standards for what values should apply in Sweden.
The same line applies. It is the same standard for everyone in Sweden. Regardless of whose child you are, regardless of who we are talking about, she says.
Busch says she is shocked to receive questions about whether the government's political line will now change.
A new boundary crossed?
Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Minister for Civil Defence and Moderate Party colleague of Forssell, believes that right-wing violent extremist groups pose a major societal problem and states that society must be able to meet all types of violent extremism
However, he is critical of the media that pointed out the Minister for Migration before Forssell himself stepped forward.
One should ask oneself if we have crossed a new boundary to draw in non-public children into the public eye in a way that I think is quite unfortunate for Sweden as a country, he says.
Bohlin points out that even if Forssell is a public person, his family members are not. He does not think that an individual's parental responsibility is a matter for the public.
Should we have a system where the government goes in and scrutinizes how individuals exercise their parental responsibility, that question is quite questionable, says Bohlin.
