Protests, heightened terror threat mean tight security at Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Security will be tight during next month’s Eurovision Song Contest in the southern Sweden city of Malmo, police said Wednesday, citing demonstrations that could lead to unrests and a heightened threat of terrorism in the Scandinavian country.
“The security is going to be rigorous,” Petra Stenkula, head of police area in Malmo, said according to Swedish broadcaster TV4.
Pro-Palestinian activists who want Israel out of the Eurovision Song Contest have announced large rallies in downtown Malmo, several kilometers (miles) from the Malmo Arena contest venue.
Last year Sweden heightened its terror threat level one notch to “high,” the fourth of five levels, for the first time since 2016 amid a deteriorating security situation following recent burnings of the Quran that triggered protests in the Muslim world.
Police said Wednesday that an application to stage a demonstration in Malmo to burn a copy of the Quran before the song contest had been handed in.