Swedish police say Eurovision fans should not be worried in Malmo

The event is being held in Malmo Arena, as the threat level in the country remains high.
An exterior view of the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
AP

The Swedish Police Authority has said that Eurovision Song Contest fans should not be “worried” amid tensions being high following the outbreak of war in the Gaza strip.

The event is being held in Malmo Arena as the threat level in the country remains just below the highest level.

Jimmy Modin, press officer for the Swedish police, told the PA news agency: “The threat assessments are primarily for the security service, but we can state that Sweden as a country is on a four on a five-point terror threat level scale.

“And of course, we include this in our planning work with the security measures that we’re taking for the Eurovision Song Contest but it’s important note that there’s no direct threat to Eurovision.”

He also confirmed that there will be pro-Palestinian march on Thursday, when Israel’s Eden Golan competes in the second semi-final with Hurricane.

“The demonstrators are going to march from one square to another square in Malmo,” Mr Modin added.

“We anticipate that there’s going to be a lot of people joining this demonstration so there might be disturbance to traffic.”

He rejected reports that there had been applications to burn the Koran on the streets of Malmo during the contest, and would not give a figure of the number of police in the city for Eurovision.

Mr Modin said that heavy numbers of officers, including from fellow Nordic countries Denmark and Norway that had been assigned to Malmo to support the Swedish police, would be outside Malmo Arena and the Eurovision Village along with other crowded areas in the city.

“We can’t rule out something could happen,” he also said. “We are very well prepared for this event.

“I don’t think (people) have to be worried to go to Malmo.”

Mr Modin also advised UK travellers that there would be traffic around the airports, bags are banned at public events due to Swedish law and there will be “vigorous security checks”.

He also said that only the police can fly drones during the contest.