Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) raised its travel warning to Malmo, Sweden on Thursday ahead of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest which will be held in the city next week.
Malmo is known as a hub for anti-Israeli protests (with a high concentration of immigrants from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran). These weekly protests often feature calls to harm Jews and Israelis, burning Israeli flags and more.
On October 7, anti-Israeli elements in Malmo expressed joy over Hamas' deadly invasion of Israel, which triggered the ongoing war.
The NSC had previously issued a travel warning to the Swedish city ahead of the singing contest back in March, where the council noted that there had been numerous plots to attack Israeli targets that had been foiled. “The potential terrorist threat against Israelis and Jews has been exceptionally high for over five months since the beginning of the war."
Anti-Israel sentiment worldwide is growing to a concerning degree, as seen in the influx of anti-Israel demonstrations and threats against Israelis and Jews across Europe and the United States.
“These developments raise concerns that terrorist elements will exploit the protests and the anti-Israeli sentiment to target Israelis arriving for the Eurovision,” an NSC statement read. Swedish authorities have intensified security measures in Malmo, but “it should be noted that, unlike the Israeli delegation to the competition, Israeli visitors don’t receive personal security.”
Therefore, “the National Security Council has raised the travel warning level for Malmo (with no change in the travel warning for Sweden as a whole) - from level 2 (occasional threat) to level 3 (moderate threat),” and recommends that Israelis planning to travel to the city consider the importance of the trip. “The warning will be stressed during the Eurovision’s events and subject to situation assessments.”
Additionally, visitors to the city are requested to download the IDF Home Front Command mobile app so they can receive real-time updates from the NSC in case of potential attacks.