L candidate after being denied gun license: Swedish police are controlled by Putin

The Liberal Party has removed Ulf Erlingsson from Kronoberg—who was running for parliament—from its ballots after he was denied a gun license and made notable remarks about the Swedish police, whom he claims are controlled by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.

Ulf Erlingsson, who was a candidate for the Liberal Party in Kronoberg ahead of the 2026 election and appeared on both the parliament and regional lists, has now been removed from the ballots.

The reason is that he appears with automatic weapons on his YouTube channel and, in his videos, has talked about using them against people. Against this background, the police denied him a weapons license.

“The top boss is Putin”

In an interview with P4 Kronoberg, he gives his somewhat peculiar view of the matter.

– I think the police did this as a hit job against me because I am against the Venezuelan regime, he tells the channel.

He goes on to claim that the Swedish police do not operate independently but are influenced by an international criminal network.

– There is a network in many countries where the top boss is Putin, he says, and continues:

– The police make things up and lie like crazy.

The statements have sparked reactions, and the Liberals in Kronoberg first urged him to voluntarily withdraw his candidacies. When he refused, the party decided to remove him from the ballots.

Was held captive by guerrillas

Ulf Erlingsson has previously lived abroad, most recently in Venezuela, and has been mentioned in the media in connection with being allegedly kidnapped by the Colombian guerrilla group ELN during a period in Colombia, who held him captive for two months before he was able to return home to Sweden.