The image is grotesque, yet real: a 14-year-old child wielding a semi-automatic weapon to execute his victims in cold blood, hired by a criminal gang. This is sadly typical of Sweden in 2025—a country that for decades symbolized Nordic stability, now trapped in a spiral of imported youth violence, organized crime, and lawless neighborhoods. And what is Stockholm’s response to all this? Not stronger borders. Not tighter controls on illegal firearms. Not deporting repeat offenders. No—the Swedish government’s top priority is banning fireworks.
Politico reported on a letter sent by two Swedish ministers—Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer and Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin—to the European Commission. In it, they urge an urgent revision of the EU’s Pyrotechnics Directive to counter the use of “pyrotechnic articles” by criminal networks. The letter, addressed to Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné and Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner, acknowledges that while illegal firearms remain the most commonly used tools of violence, “there is a growing trend towards the use of explosives.”
That includes fireworks, firecrackers, and flares—products which, according to the ministers, are now being used in attacks, extortion schemes, or acts of intimidation. The letter calls on the EU to facilitate traceability, promote cooperation with industry stakeholders, and even deploy artificial intelligence to combat illegal pyrotechnics trade.
Their reasoning might not seem entirely irrational—if it weren’t taking place in a context where Sweden has already broken records for murders linked to minors and criminal migration. In April, a 14-year-old boy gunned down several people in what the media called an “unprecedented case.” What was a child doing with an automatic weapon? Where are those responsible for recruiting him? And what role do radical Islam and mass immigration play in this collapse?
The Swedish Parliament has recently debated controversial measures: allowing police to tap minors’ phones, banning certain social networks, or establishing “intensive intervention zones” in problematic neighborhoods. Yet none of these measures tackle the root cause: decades of unchecked immigration, failed integration, and a State that surrendered its moral and cultural sovereignty in the name of multiculturalism.
Crime has become an intergenerational phenomenon. As Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard warned, organized gangs are recruiting children in schools and youth centers. Using encrypted platforms like Signal or Telegram, they are turning them into contract killers. And the government’s response? More fireworks regulation.
A dangerous silence in Brussels
Politicians like Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers (ECR) have long warned of the consequences of this drift. One of the most vocal critics of Europe’s Islamization, Weimers has repeatedly highlighted the link between mass immigration and rising criminality in Sweden.
Though currently away on study days, Weimers’ record is clear: he has called for a cut in EU funding to pro-migration NGOs, stronger asylum policies, and the restoration of order in Sweden’s streets—policies in stark contrast to those of his country’s own executive.
The image of European politicians discussing fairground rockets while armed children sow terror in the streets of Malmö, Stockholm, or Gothenburg recalls the famous Titanic phrase: “Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” As the ship sinks, the orchestra plays on, and stewards make sure the chairs are properly aligned.
Sweden, like much of Western Europe, seems to have forgotten that social peace is not an automatic right, but a hard-won achievement that must be defended daily. And when the will to defend what is essential—life, culture, sovereignty, law—fades away, then not even the loudest firecracker will drown out the real explosion: the sound of civilizational collapse.
