SD criticism of Malmö funding Third World festivals in times of crisis

Published 13 February 2024 at 07.53

Foreign. The Sweden Democrats saw the decision by the municipal government in Malmö to spend half a million tax kroner on the celebration of the Persian fire festival and the new year nouruz.
– It becomes difficult to understand for us and many others when the municipal government chooses to prioritize this in times of austerity, says Magnus Olsson (SD).

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Last Christmas, Fria Tider reported that Malmö municipality refused to use the greeting phrase “good Christmas” – while officially celebrates Ramadan and funds the celebration of various other Middle Eastern holidays.

Malmö celebrates Ramadan – but refuses to say "Merry Christmas":

Criticized by local party for double standard.

Organizes official celebrations of Third World holidays. https://t.co/5FTSVcst1O

— Fria Tider (@friatider) December 25, 2023

The two holidays of the fire festival and nowruz are celebrated in the Persian and Turkish speaking world. And in Malmö, where the rulers annually spend large sums on the celebrations of foreign holidays such as these and the Muslim holiday Eid.

At the same time, the Malmö government saves money on schools and care – and the municipality's own traditional New Year's celebration was canceled due to a lack of money.

“Not a penny for our own spring festival Valborg”
– The fire festival and nowruz can be briefly described as spring festivals, so then it becomes another strange thing in the context that the city of Malmö does not spend a penny on our own Swedish spring festival, Valborg. All this leads to an imbalance that sticks out in the eyes of many Malmö residents – they have contacted us and the common feeling among them is that they feel they have been chosen by their own municipal government, says opposition councilor Magnus Olsson (SD) in a press release.

< p>The decision to sponsor the bonfire and nowruz was made in the municipal board's working committee, KSAU, which consists of Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh (S), Helena Nanne (M) and Roko Kursar (L). Stefana Hoti (MP) is a substitute.

KSAU has the right to grant or reject applications for a maximum of one million kroner per individual occasion (if an application concerns a higher amount, this decision must be made in the municipal board).

– If we had been asked, we would have said no directly to paying out this money. All in all, there is a lot of money that goes to events such as these every year, and we believe that the municipal government is sending the wrong signals. In times of austerity, you should of course save for things like this in the first place, says Magnus Olsson.

The fire festival is celebrated on March 19 and nowruz on March 20. Both events take place in Beijers park on Kirseberg.

Swedes are today in the minority in Malmö.