"You support a genocide" was one of the things shouted from the audience when Ulf Kristersson (M) on Tuesday held an open question and answer session at the pub Pustervik in Gothenburg together with Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M).
At the Q&A session, it became heated and emotional at times, with many questions about the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Several people were removed from the meeting due to disturbances, and after half an hour, the Prime Minister chose to stop prematurely.
Kristersson: "Terrible life"
To SVT, Ulf Kristersson now says that what happened on Tuesday was unacceptable.
"It was a horrible life. People were shouting at each other, disrupting the meeting, doing everything they could to prevent it from happening. That's not how democracy is supposed to work in Sweden and I'm not going to adapt to it.
When the prime minister at one point called Hamas a terrorist organization, part of the audience began booing – which, according to Kristersson, is a "terror romanticism".
"It suggests that there is a kind of terror romanticism in Sweden that I am incredibly concerned about. It is perfectly legitimate to have different views on the conflict in the Middle East, but it is quite another thing to spoil meetings where you should be able to discuss this issue. I am concerned that conflicts in other parts of the world are going straight into Sweden in this way.
Strandhäll (S) critical
The adjournment of the meeting has provoked strong reactions on Wednesday. Social Democrat Annika Strandhäll believes that Ulf Kristersson should have handled the criticism in a different way than leaving the meeting.
"He probably needs to expect people to come to these open meetings with their concern and anger. You have to be able to do that as prime minister," she says.
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Photo: SVT
Ulf Kristersson believes, however, that there is a limit to what can be accepted, and that what happened on Tuesday is a threat to the democratic discourse.
"That's what happens if, as we do, you're forced to quit, because it's not possible to have a meeting.
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See the pictures from the messy meeting at Pustervik in Gothenburg. Photo: SVT