Sweden’s prime minister, who chairs the EU Council, is embroiled in a political row after it emerged he hired a top aide to poach greyhounds and misled police about it, the BBC reports.

Ulf Kristersson admitted he knew Peter Magnus Nilsson had broken the law before he was appointed last October. The adviser’s behavior was “stupid”, but that does not mean that Nilsson was not suitable for the position, the Swedish prime minister said.

The opposition Social Democrats demand Nilsson’s resignation. Ardalan Shekarabi, the center-left party’s justice spokesman, told public broadcaster SVT that it was unacceptable for the prime minister’s top adviser to lie to the police, given the problems Sweden already has with serious crime.

Peter Magnus Nilsson, a financial journalist, has become an adviser to the prime minister after Sweden’s new centre-right coalition government is sworn in in October 2022. The incident of illegal eel fishing happened a year ago at the beginning of 2021 on an autumn day. near the southern coast of Sweden.

In Sweden, it is illegal to catch grayling without a permit. According to Stockholm University’s Baltic Sea Center, the European eel, a local delicacy, is highly endangered.

In a Facebook post, Nilsson explained that he was trying to check his gear and was about to throw small eels caught in his fishing traps back into the sea.

According to the official report contacted by SVT, Nilsson had four traps with 15 eels weighing a total of 11 kg.

Marines detained him and asked if the equipment was his, but he said it was not. A year later, he received a call from a “friend” from the local police. Again, Nilsson denied owning the traps, but later called the police to correct his statement. He has now been fined SEK 38,800 ($3,800).

“I deeply regret all of this,” Nilsson said, admitting it was “inappropriate” not to acknowledge the incident either on the spot or next year.

In an appearance on SVT, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson criticized him for not telling the truth straight away, but argued that this was compensated by the subsequent assumption of error and the payment of a fine.

Now Kristersson has been summoned to give explanations to the parliamentary commission, which analyzes the behavior of ministers. The Social Democrats are demanding details of Nilsson’s appointment process and security clearance.

The commission will consider the case over the next few months.

(source: news.ro)