Nazi NMR for a dwindling existence – but the American terrorist stamp can make members feel important for a moment, believes researcher Christer Mattsson.
I think this will be a temporary energy boost, he says.
The US State Department announced on Friday that it has classified the Swedish NMR as a terrorist organisation.
Christer Mattsson, who researches right-wing extremism and heads the Segerstedt Institute at the University of Gothenburg, does not believe the classification will have any major consequences for NMR – at least not in Sweden.
Perhaps the members may feel strengthened by the terrorist classification.
If I may guess, I think this will be a temporary energy boost for NMR, that they themselves feel relevant and important for a short while. But it will not have any impact on those around them and it will not lead to anyone rejoining, says Christer Mattsson.
"Has imploded"
NMR is today only a shadow of what it was five years ago, underlines Mattsson. Active members have jumped ship and new recruitment is non-existent. The national movement has changed its skin and today Nazis gather in local small groups with a low profile.
The organisation NMR has imploded. The activities they engage in can at best be described as pathetic, says Mattsson.
Those who jump ship say they do not think it is worth the effort and the consequences of being public with their commitment to NMR. You become disliked by friends, family, employers, and the struggle leads nowhere.
Dangerous defectors
Paradoxically, the organisation's collapse is dangerous, explains Mattsson. Associated Nazis with a violent capital were previously held back when the movement focused on activism and election campaigns. Now that the same individuals are outside, they lack restraints and turn to violence.
There are several examples, but the clearest was the planned bomb attack in Falköping, where a former member writes in a manifesto that it is not enough to distribute leaflets and that one must do something else to achieve the goals.
It is likely not activities in Sweden that have led to the terrorist classification, but the contacts between NMR and American Nazis, says Christer Mattsson.
Historically, there have been both steady and regular contacts between Swedish Nazis and American Nazis. There have been American Nazis visiting NMR, but how the exchange looks like at present, I do not know.
Is a Nazi organisation founded in 1997. Was initially called the Swedish Resistance Movement (SMR) and changed its name to the Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR) in 2016.
Has had branches in Norway, Finland, and Denmark. Aims to overthrow the Nordic democracies and its ideology is based on racial biology and the racist myth of a Jewish world conspiracy. NMR also agitates against feminism and LGBTQ+ rights.
Has run in several general elections since 2018 without achieving any success. Split in 2019, among other things, due to dissatisfaction with the failed election campaign.
NMR's symbol is the Tyr rune, which was also used by Nazis in Nazi Germany.
Several members have been convicted of various violent crimes – including a series of bombings in Gothenburg in 2016–2017.
Source: Expo
