Witness

Vikings Vs. Neo-Nazis: Battling The Far Right In Sweden (2020x1)

Date de diffusion: Mar 21, 2020

Across Sweden, young Viking enthusiasts have been angered by the actions of some far-right organisations who have adopted Viking iconography to represent white supremacist propaganda. One, in particular, is the Nordic Resistance Movement, known as the NRM. Viking enthusiast Robin Lundin is the co-founder of an association called Vikingar Mot Rasism (Vikings Against Racism, or VAR). The group was formed on Facebook to combat the conflation of Viking enthusiasm with neo-nazism, and it has more than 1,500 members. The NRM hold a rally in Robin's hometown of Kungalv. He uses the rally as a chance to challenge one of the NRM's leaders face-to-face about their misappropriation of Viking symbols. NRM's rallies frequently become violent, but Robin remains undeterred in his bid to expose the NRM’s ignorance and reclaim his Viking identity, without being branded a neo-Nazi.