Swedish Moderate Party MP Hanif Bali, an outspoken critic of mass migration, said he might have to move house after his car was vandalised for the second time this year.
Mr Bali noticed the damage to his vehicle on Wednesday evening as he was about to take his mother home following a family dinner. He said that the car’s tyres were slashed and the paint scratched off the body, Swedish newspaper Expressen reports.
“I had had dinner with my mum. Then I parked the car at home to leave some stuff. After 30 minutes, I went down to drive my mum home, and then I see that the paint is torn and that there are holes in the tyres, ” he said, noting that the attack was the same as a previous incident earlier this year.
“I had the car for ten days. I got it back from the last workshop last week, where it had been repainted after last time,” he said. “It’s very frustrating that my stuff can’t be left in peace. I have to change the car — I can’t have this car — and I probably have to move. That’s the reality,” he added.
Bali garnered support on social media from many followers including Sweden’s leading terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp, who called the incidents “very serious”.
Car burnings and property damage against conservatives and populists who come out against mass migration have become increasingly common. In Sweden, several members of the populist Sweden Democrats have seen their homes attacked including one attempt of arson in Stockholm.
In Germany, the Alternative for Germany (AFD) has recorded hundreds of incidents of violence and vandalism against their members and supporters over the years. In 2016, vandals set fire to former party leader Frauke Petry’s car.
The level of violence — with far-left Antifa extremists taking much of the credit — has dramatically increased in the last few years. Earlier this year, there was an attempted assassination on an AfD politician, and the bombing of an office of Matteo Salvini’s League last August in Italy.
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