Security in the Parliament: "New Questions on the Table"

The group leaders in the parliament have discussed the security after the tomato attack against Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard. Next week, a new debate about the Middle East will be held in the chamber. It is my hope that we have a solution in place then, says Michael Rubbestad (SD).

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Security in the Parliament: "New Questions on the Table"
Photo: Riksdagen/TT

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Wednesday's meeting is a follow-up to an extraordinary group meeting last week.

The meeting was surrounded by great secrecy. It was held in a soundproof security room in the parliament, and participants were forced to leave their mobile phones outside.

After the meeting, few wanted to comment.

Speaker Andreas Norlén says it is important to mark against what happened and take the measures that may be needed to increase security.

I had initiated several discussions and processes quite a long time before this incident occurred, but we also have new questions on the table that the security department has brought up in light of what happened, he says.

Short notice

Already tomorrow, Thursday, the group leaders will meet again.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said that he expects security to have been increased in the parliament before a debate on the Middle East that the Foreign Minister will participate in next week.

The Speaker says he does not feel any stress and says that simpler measures can be taken with very short notice.

According to previous information, plexiglas may be set up at the spectator gallery. But the Speaker does not want to say what changes are being discussed.

Exactly what and how we will get back to, and to the extent that it is possible to communicate.

Michael Rubbestad, first vice group leader for SD, hopes for a solution soon.

It is my hope and ambition that we will find a solution that allows us to carry out the debate as planned, he says.

Three suspected

Andreas Norlén thinks that the parliament is a safe parliament.

When asked if he can decide that a debate should be held without spectators, he replies:

It is stated in the Instrument of Government that the chamber's meetings shall be public, it has historically been interpreted as meaning that there should be seats for spectators in the chamber. The parliament should be an open parliament.

Three people are suspected of disrupting a public meeting after the incident where a bag of tomatoes and onions was thrown from a group of pro-Palestinian activists towards Malmer Stenergard on October 3.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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