Swedish News:

Suspicious sub in Stockholm archipelago. No to shooting attacking wolves. Threatened children to be exiled  

• Suspicious sub in Stockholm archipelago
  The Swedish National Defense is now looking into what seems to have been a strange submarine in the Stockholm archipelago some weeks ago. The Harge family took photos of the sub from their house in Saltsjöbaden, and it does indeed look like a big vehicle in the water. “I saw a long, black vehicle moving slowly in the water and then disappear,” says Hanna Harge who was out early in the morning with the family’s dog. “My first thought was that it was a submarine and they were doing some kind of exercise.” She took photos of it but after a discussion with her family, she mailed those photos to the Swedish National Defense, who soon came to visit. “We’ve looked at several leads, and we aren’t only investigating the photos in this matter,” says Anders Larsson who leads the investigation. “All possible violations of Swedish territorial waters are considered serious,” he adds. When asked if sure there were no Swedish subs in the area at that time of the day, Press Secretary at the National Defense Philip Simon says that’s one of the issues the investigation is looking into.

• No to shooting attacking wolves
  The Stockholm County Administration says no to the protection hunting of the wolves that attacked and killed a dog in front of the eyes of a family with children in Roslagen last month. After the incident, there were talks about killing the two wolves involved as a preventive measure, and Naturvårdsverket (the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) was contacted for advice. That authority in turn contacted both the Stockholm County Administration and Viltskadecenter (Wildlife Damage Center), both of whom suggested Naturvårdsverket say no to a protective shooting. In total four dogs and a calf have been killed by wolves in Stockholm County.

• Threatened children to be exiled
  A 2-year old boy and a 4-year old boy will be exiled to their home country of Uzbekistan along with their mentally sick mother. This in spite of the fact that Socialtjänsten (the National Board of Health and Welfare) has deemed the mother dangerous and prohibited her from being alone with her children in Sweden without the father. The mother has had thoughts of killing her children. The children are now to be exiled along with their mother. “It would be devastating for the family to be separated since the welfare and development of the children depends on their access to both parents,” the social secretary said to Sveriges Radio (Swedish Radio). The father comes from Azerbaijan originally, and will be exiled to his country of birth as well. The children were both born in Sweden, and have during their entire childhood lived with both parents, but will be exiled with the mother. “My children are stateless,” says the father. “And will now be exiled to a country where anything can happen to them, without me and with a sick parent.” The family has appealed the decision, but Judge Maria Hammarberg, who has handled the youngest boy’s case, says there is no reason to change it. “We took into account all the medical basis for the act when we made the judgment,” she says. The psychiatrist who has been in touch with the family since last year is of a different viewpoint: “It’s been documented that the mother can’t take care of her child. It’s unbelievable really.”