Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson slammed Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán for spreading “outrageous lies” after Orbán said Sweden is on the brink of collapse because of rampant organized crime. “These are outrageous lies. Not surprising coming from the man who is dismantling the rule of law in his own country. Orbán is desperate ahead of the upcoming Hungarian election,” Kristersson wrote in a post on X. The social media row between the leaders began when Orbán posted a video in which he attacked the Swedish justice system. “”The Swedish government lectures us about the rule of law. Meanwhile, according to an article by Die Welt, criminal networks are exploiting Swedish children as killers, knowing the system won’t convict,” Orbán said on X. “A country once known for order and safety is now collapsing: over 280 underage girls arrested for murder, families living in fear. It’s heartbreaking. The Swedish people deserve better!” According to the article in Die Welt, 280 girls in Sweden between the ages of 15 and 17 were investigated last year for serious crimes such as murder. The Swedish Crime Prevention Council has different numbers, saying 68 women in that age bracket were suspected of murder and assault. Sweden is grappling with a crime wave involving teenagers being hired by gangs through social media, particularly Telegram, to carry out a range of crimes, from spying to vandalism and from bombings to murder. The Swedish government last week said it wants to lower the age of criminal responsibility for crimes such as murder from 15 to 13. Both Sweden and Hungary will hold elections next year — Sweden in September and Hungary in April. In Hungary, the center-right Respect and Freedom Party (Tisza), led by Orbán nemesis Péter Magyar, currently has a 7-point lead over the governing right-wing Fidesz, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls, seriously threatening Orbán’s decade-and-a-half of rule.

A top Swedish politician called domestic pro-Palestinian activists “barbarians” on Wednesday after they harassed a fellow cabinet member in Stockholm. “Activists are now behaving like barbarians when they restrict other people’s freedom of speech,” Swedish Energy Minister Ebba Busch wrote on X. “In Sweden, we have a long tradition of freedom of speech and democracy. This is now under threat.” On Monday night, several pro-Palestinian activists harassed Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin as he was returning home from a meeting. In a video Bohlin filmed himself, the activists can be seen following him, shouting “Shame on you!” Bohlin then returned to the parliament building to avoid leading the activists to his home. Speaking on the Morgonstudion program on the SVT public broadcaster, the morning after the incident, Bohlin said the behavior of the protesters was “not normal” and warned: “What is the next boundary this group of people will cross?” He also called for the country’s authorities to stand “shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish minority.” Busch, who leads the Christian Democrats, a junior partner in the country’s ruling coalition, said she expects the police to take action against those “who do not respect the rules of democracy,” and proposed stronger legislation to protect politicians. Svenska Dagbladet reported that police are investigating the incident. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X that he expects “all parties to distance themselves from the mob tactics,” adding a warning for Palestinian activists in Stockholm: “You are welcome to express your opinion on the Middle East. But immediately stop threatening Swedish politicians!”

Top Swedish bodyguards are facing further embarrassment after media revealed their fitness tracking data inadvertently exposed the locations of the country’s most powerful figures. Swedish security service members, who have already been accused of revealing details about the Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson through a workout app, also let slip the location of the king and queen’s secret vacations, including a private island in the Seychelles and the mountain village of Storlien in northern Sweden. Data about the royal family’s latest trip to a luxury villa on the French Riviera, which took place in June, is so detailed that they could have been mapped in real-time, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported. Several hotels contacted by the newspaper confirmed that the Swedish royal couple stayed with them, but pointed out they were not allowed to say anything. The Swedish bodyguards uploaded more than 1,400 workouts to the fitness app Strava from 2015 through July 2025. Approximately 70 of the files concerned the Swedish royal family — King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia — revealing classified information that could have put senior figures at risk. Information uploaded to Strava was also linked to the former prime ministers Magdalena Andersson and Stefan Löfven, former foreign minister Ann Linde and Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the government-supporting right-wing populist Sweden Democrats party.

Swedish security service members who shared details of their running and cycling routes on fitness app Strava have been accused of revealing details of the prime minister’s location, including his private address. According to Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, on at least 35 occasions bodyguards uploaded their workouts to the training app and revealed information linked to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, including where he goes running, details of overnight trips abroad, and the location of his private home, which is supposed to be secret. Information uploaded to Strava was also linked to the Swedish royal family, former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, and Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the government-supporting Sweden Democrats party. According to Dagens Nyheter, a bodyguard posted details of a run in Bodø in Norway while Kristersson was meeting with his Norwegian and Finnish counterparts, Jonas Gahr Støre and Alexander Stubb. Kristersson later posted a picture on social media of the three leaders running together.