Published 26 February 2023 at 08.49
Media. A person from Restore Wetlands, which is financed by the American billionaire club Climate Emergency Fund, interrupted the performance of the artist Loreen during the melody festival. According to media reports, the coup was carried out by a group of left-wing researchers from Lund, but how much they were paid by the Americans is unclear.
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Rickard Lundqvist, police spokesperson in region South, tells Aftonbladet that four people have been taken into custody under Section 13 of the Police Act, which deals with disturbing public order.
The climate activist group “Restore Wetlands” has claimed the coup. It is a US-linked left-wing extremist organization that is formally funded by various Hollywood billionaires, but which many suspect is actually funded by the US government.
How much the Climate Emergency Fund pays for each action is unclear, but in recent years they have been the instigators of several more serious cases of vandalism in Europe, including against irreplaceable works of art.
Lunda PhD student David Alcer, 27, who researches solar cells, tells Expressen that it was he who went on stage.
“Researchers from Lund overthrew Mello. The world is in chaos. It's time to wake up. The politicians know that people will die in our country too. That's why we went up to the Middle Stage. The future will be a sad song. Not glitz and glamour,” the left-wing extremists write in a post on Twitter.
Loreen says she didn't understand what happened and that she thought it was someone who wanted to dance who appeared on stage.
– I received great support from the audience. I've been through worse. But I was worried that it would ruin the experience for those watching and my audience, she tells Aftonbladet.
When the producers saw what was happening, they first switched the camera to a more distant view of the arena, and then the presenters came in. Therefore, the climate activists' “message” never reached the TV viewers.
– Loreen's performance was disrupted and the TV viewers didn't get to experience it as it was intended. We therefore decided that she would be allowed to perform it in its entirety again, says Melodifestivalen's project manager Anders Wistbacka to SVT, which has also published a clip from this part of the broadcast on its website.