sweden's PM: Stand up to Nazism

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called for people to stand up against the growing threat of Nazism and white-power movements. Fascist groups are moving forward their positions "step by step," Lofven said in a speech in Eskilstuna, Sweden, highlighting demonstrations across the country as well as "Nazi groups, the Ku Klux Klan and white power protesters in Charlottesville."

"It may be easy to try to laugh away these angry men with big words, small hearts and closed fists," he said. "But all fascist movements were small when they were founded and were able to quickly gain followers during difficult times." The prime minister's call for vigilance comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is being criticized by U.S. lawmakers, business leaders and others over statements he made after violence at right-wing protests in Charlottesville, Va., that left one counterprotester dead. Trump said both the neo-Nazis and white nationalists who organized the event and those who mobilized against it shared in the blame.

Lofven, who leads Sweden's Social Democratic Party, said it could be easy to "start tolerating the unacceptable." "It's a slippery slope where the border between the Nazis, the xenophobic and the decent people is erased," he said.

Bloomberg News