Sweden’s premier rules out future coalition with Left Party

By Atilla Altuntas

STOCKHOLM (AA) - Sweden’s prime minister has said that her ruling Social Democratic Party is not considering partnering with the Left Party, whose parliamentarians had waved rags of the PKK terror group.

In her remarks to the public broadcaster STV on the local and general elections that will be held on Sept. 11, Magdalena Andersson stressed that PKK was listed as a terrorist organization by the EU, of which Sweden is a member, and NATO, to which her country wants to be a member.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

In July, Daniel Riazat, Momodou Malcolm Jallow and Lorena Delgado Varas of the Left Party posed with rags, which represent the PKK/YPG terror outfit, and shared the images on social media.

Andersson said that the waving of the PKK terror group's rags is not in the interest of the government.

Earlier this month, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde also called the promotion of the terror group "completely unacceptable."

"The PKK was branded a terrorist organization as early as 1984 by Olof Palme’s government. And with good reason. The PKK has many innocent human lives on its conscience," she stated on Twitter, tagging Justice Minister Morgan Johansson.

Linde called on the Left Party to immediately stop supporting the PKK terror group.

The move by left-wing parliamentarians came despite assurances in an agreement signed between Türkiye, Finland and Sweden to fully cooperate with Ankara in fighting terrorism.

Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO in May, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine.

However, Türkiye, a NATO member for more than 70 years, opposed the two countries' membership aspirations due to their tolerance and even backing for terrorist groups.

*Writing by Ahmet Gencturk