Russia calls burning of Quran in Stockholm 'another provocative act of Islamophobia'

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday blasted the burning of the Quran in Stockholm "as another provocative act of Islamophobia."

"These blasphemous actions predictably provoked a harsh reaction in the Islamic world, including the Russian Muslim community," spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a news conference.

She noted the difference in attitudes to what happened and said in the "world that defends traditional values" the burning was assessed "as absolutely inadequate," while the Western world "applauds this and says that this is not just normal, but good."

"The excuses of Swedish authorities, who are trying to hide behind statements about freedom of speech, sound at least cowardly. The police allegedly issued a permit only to hold a demonstration in front of the Turkish Embassy, and no one coordinated the burning of the Quran.

"At the same time, the organizer of the demonstrations, the Swedish-Danish politician Rasmus Paludan, did not hide his plans, and the demand of Turkish authorities to withdraw permission to hold a demonstration was ignored in Stockholm," said Zakharova.

She noted that Swedish authorities did not take action to investigate the incident.

"They like to teach everyone else how to respect human rights and freedoms, they shout about their democracy at every corner. But in reality, in particular, in Stockholm, they do not show respect for either foreign legitimate governments or world religions," she said.

Turning to the deployment of the EU mission in Armenia, she said such missions should work for the interests of the countries they are sent to.

"Not to serve some group of the political elite, but to work for the main thing -- for peace in the region. Diplomatic policy, negotiation tools, international law -- these can help (to solve problems).

"When military-political blocs, of which now only military component is left -- and a very aggressive one, take action under a guise of political institutions, all this (sending missions by them) is under a big question," she noted.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the deployment of the EU monitoring mission in Armenia's regions that border Azerbaijan will "only bring geopolitical confrontation to the region and exacerbate existing contradictions."

"Had Brussels been sincerely interested in peace in Karabakh, it would have obtained Baku's approval on the work of the mission," it said in a statement.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Baku during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement and opened the door to normalization.

Azerbaijan says the mission must not affect the normalization process and should take into account its interests.