Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Thursday said he was “very concerned” about the large number of applications police had received for anti-Islam protests in the Scandinavian country.

Speaking at a Stockholm press conference, the Moderate Party politician said he feared such protests could result in the burning of the Muslim holy book, the Quran.

Kristersson underscored the fact that permission to allow such protests to take place lies with police and not with the government.

“If they are approved, we have a number of days with the obvious risk that serious things could happen.”

Kristersson’s warning echoed similar statements made by the head of Sweden’s SAPO domestic intelligence service. At the Thursday press conference, SAPO Director Charlotte von Essen said such protests create an increased security risk.

Von Essen said Sweden had become a “priority” target among Islamists after recent Quran desecrations in the country and in neighboring Denmark provoked widespread anger among Muslims globally.

“Sweden has gone from being seen as a tolerant country to being seen as an anti-Islamic land,” said the intelligence boss.

Protesters burn embassy and flags in several countries

Thousands of angry Muslims around the world demanding Sweden forbid such acts reacted by storming and burning the Swedish embassy in Iraq on July 20, for instance, as well as burning countless US, Israeli, Swedish and LGTBQ flags.

Sweden’s government strongly condemned the disrespectful act of Quran desecration carried out by an Iraqi dissident currently residing in Stockholm, but said its legal responsibility was to freedom of speech.

The country does not have laws forbidding the desecration of religious books, and the right to public protest is enshrined in Sweden’s constitution. Police permission to hold such events is weighed against the threat of major disruption and risk to public safety.

Addressing Sweden’s parliament, Foreign Minister Tobias Billstroem said: “Our primary and most important task is to protect Swedish interests and the safety of Swedish citizens both here and abroad. We should take the developments that are now underway very seriously; everyone in our country should.”

Speaking to reporters, Billstroem said: “In some countries there is a perception that the Swedish state is behind or condone this. We don’t. These are acts committed by individuals but they do it within the framework of freedom of speech laws.”

The foreign minister said he had been in close contact with his counterparts in a number of Muslim countries as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC).

The OIC will hold an emergency meeting to discuss Quran burnings in Sweden and Denmark on July 31.

Quran desecrations harming Swedish interests internationally

Beyond leading to the expulsion of Sweden’s ambassador to Iraq, the recent Quran desecrations have once again put Stockholm on a collision course with Turkey.

After months of stonewalling, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally promised to relent from blocking Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance at the recent NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 11, in return for Western concessions. Now, however, Ankara has said Sweden’s inability to stop Quran burnings raised concerns about Stockholm’s credentials.

Though a portion of Swedes hold anti-immigrant and anti-Islam views — as evidenced by the popularity of the influential Sweden Democrats party — Stockholm contends that beyond extremist individuals, state and semi-state agitators are responsible for fueling the controversy by spreading anti-Swedish disinformation online.

Sweden’s Minister of Civil Defense Carl-Oskar Bohlin on Wednesday squarely blamed Russia, claiming Moscow was fanning the flames of discontent in an effort to sabotage Sweden’s NATO bid.