Sweden had better defense than Norway during the war, and if Hitler had decided to invade Sweden, that would have been a struggle, as Carl Bildt wrote in a tweet that caused bad blood.
A Norwegian journalist replied: “With all due respect, shut up.”
On Friday, also the anniversary of Germany’s invasion of Norway and Denmark, former Prime Minister Karl Bildt (M) wrote a series of posts on Twitter. In one, he admitted that Sweden’s defense was not impressive during the war, but that it was at least stronger than Norway and particularly stronger than Denmark. Bildt writes that had Hitler decided to invade Sweden, that would have been a struggle.
Tweet received Norwegian news sites also picked up thousands of Bildt’s reactions and tweets.
Many believe it indicates that Norway has not resisted. Sylvie Listaog, First Vice President of the Progress Party, told Ferdinand Jang that if everyone had done the same as Sweden, Hitler would have won the war.
She notes that Sweden allowed Germany to transport weapons and soldiers across the country, which were then used to occupy Norway and Denmark. Something that also appears again in numerous comments on Twitter.
“It’s incredibly disrespectful on a very dark day in both Norwegian and Danish history,” politician Rudi Mimir Christjanson told NRK, adding that the statement was an expression of “Swedish complacency.”
“It might be The only World Cup Sweden always wins – the belief that you are the best in the world in everything, ”says Christianson.
Norwegian journalist Jenny Dahl Bakken did not design the words in her response to Bildt: “With all due respect: Shut up,” she tweets and recalls that more than 10,000 Norwegians were killed in the war.
Tom Christiansen, professor of history at the University of Tromsø, tells NRK that Bildt is actually not wrong:
“The Swedish defense was clearly stronger than the Norwegians and the Danes – perhaps especially the army and air force,” he says, but adds that Norway still holds 62 days against the German invasion – longer than Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland each.
Christiansen considers, however Even if Bildt was not wrong, the statement was “inappropriate” and ill-timed.
“Also, bear in mind that many Norwegians accuse Sweden of pursuing a pro-German policy during the early years of the war.”
Bild says in a text message that he was misunderstood and that he didn’t want to regret the tweet.
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