Sverigedemokraterna’s member of parliament Richard Jomshof has sparked strong reactions after calling Aftonbladet’s political editor-in-chief Anders Lindberg “a quisling”. The post was published after Lindberg, in a video, speculated about who could become ministers in a future government with the Sweden Democrats, pointing to Jomshof as a possible Minister of Justice.

Jomshof published a picture of Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling next to a picture of Lindberg with the text: “The man on the left is Quisling. The man on the right is a quisling.”

As criticism mounted, he defended his choice of words and wrote that even the Social Democrats’ party leader Magdalena Andersson is “a quisling.” He justified this by claiming that they “crawl for the Islamists” and thus act against Sweden’s interests.

Anders Lindberg dismissed the accusation and described it as an attack on free journalism. He emphasized that it is not treason to do journalism or to criticize political parties and governments, arguing the statement is intended to silence critical voices.

The statement has provoked sharp reactions from across the political spectrum. Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson called Jomshof’s actions “deeply un-Swedish” and said it was about trying to silence critical voices.

Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist described the statement as “completely unacceptable” and called on Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) to clarify whether such behavior is compatible with a future government partnership.

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Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar also condemned the statement and demanded that the Prime Minister distance himself from the rhetoric.

Ebba Busch (Christian Democrats) takes a somewhat middle position:

The Sweden Democrats have defended Jomshof’s actions, pointing to the fact that Anders Lindberg has previously made historical comparisons about Tidö-party representatives.

Jomshof himself has argued that the term “quisling” today can be used about people who, in his view, help anti-democratic forces gain influence in Sweden.

On Tuesday, Jomshof followed up with a longer post where he expands on his reasoning:

Anders Lindberg has spent much of his career throwing a long row of insults and various attacks around over the years. One of the worst was when he (not once, but twice) chose to compare Ulf Kristersson to von Papen, and thus also indirectly Jimmie Åkesson to Adolf Hitler.

In defense of this, Lindberg wrote in 2018 that “Franz von Papen is as much a historical person as a concept, like Vidkun Quisling”, whereupon Kristersson is compared precisely to von Papen. But if the concept “von Papen” can be used to describe Kristersson, then the concept “Quisling” can certainly be used to describe Lindberg. However, I am not saying Lindberg is Quisling, but a quisling.

For those who don’t know, the short version is that the Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II and helped them conquer Norway. As a result, today the concept “quisling” is synonymous with a traitor, a person who betrays their country and collaborates with an enemy.

Just as the Norwegian traitors collaborated with the Nazis at the time, we can today see how Swedish traitors collaborate with Islamists. They represent and advocate policies where these anti-democrats are not only allowed to immigrate to Sweden, but also to establish themselves here, with the goal of taking over our country and overthrowing our democracy. So they are indeed traitors, quislingar if you will.

Other reactions

While party leaders on the left are outraged, ordinary citizens see the situation differently:

Collaborated with the Nazis

The term “quisling” refers to the Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling. Quisling founded the fascist party Nasjonal Samling and collaborated with Nazi Germany during the German occupation of Norway from 1940 to 1945.

He proclaimed himself head of government after the German invasion and later became minister-president in the German-controlled Norwegian regime. After the war, he was convicted of high treason and executed in 1945.

Quisling in the company of Heinrich Himmler. Photo: News agency: Atlantic, Berlin – Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe in Poland, CC BY-SA 4.0

As a result of his actions, the surname “Quisling” quickly became an international term for a traitor or collaborator – a person who works with a hostile power or betrays their own country.

The word is still used in several languages as a strong pejorative term for someone considered to betray their country or their own side.

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