INTERVIEW. In June, the leader of the Nordic Resistance Movement was interviewed by the Italian nationalist website Ardire (“Dare” in English). Below is a translated version of the interview. The original Italian version can be read on Ardire’s website.
Thank you for doing an interview with us. Would you like to begin by explaining what the Nordic Resistance Movement is?
The Nordic Resistance Movement is a pan-Nordic, revolutionary and National Socialist activist organisation that has been active since 1997. We operate in all of the Nordic countries, and in Sweden we are also a registered political party that contests elections.
However, our focus is chiefly on extra-parliamentary operations, including spreading propaganda, training in martial arts, wilderness activities, lecturing, study circles and much, much more. We also run various different websites and podcasts – our own little media empire, you could say.
The absolute most important aim of everything we do is to secure the existence and freedom of the ethnically Nordic peoples.
Is it true that you want to create a National Socialist republic that consists of all the Nordic countries; i.e., Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland?
Yes, that’s right. We believe that our countries individually do not have a chance to assert themselves in the increasingly borderless and globalist world. With a united Nordic region, however, we could be self-sufficient and independent, even if the rest of the world stood against us.
It can and should also be mentioned that the different Nordic peoples are very similar to one another, both in regard to ethnicity and culture, and that the different national borders within the Nordic countries have changed on several occasions throughout the course of history.
This goal of a united Nordic nation is also the main reason why we already work across the Nordic region – we are attempting to act within our organisation today as we want the entire Nordic region to be governed when we take power.
You talk about establishing a government of the people. One question that arises about this is whether it is possible to integrate the National Socialist ideology with a democratic system?
In order to answer that question, we must first define what democracy is. Is it a democracy to have wide-open borders and allow homosexual marriage? In such a case, we are certainly not democrats.
If we instead look at the democracy of ancient Greece, I would say that National Socialism is much closer to that system than today’s so-called democracy is. We believe in an authoritarian, but not totalitarian, system in which the will of the people is carefully taken into account. We fully believe in freedom of speech and religion – in fact, to an even greater extent than the current system does.
We also want to give the people what is, in my opinion, the most democratic right in existence – the right for the people to bear arms. This right, which today’s “democracy” denies its citizens, means that the people can defend themselves and have the ability to forcibly replace a corrupt and deficient leadership.
The symbol of your organisation is a Tyr rune. What does it mean to you?
The Tyr rune is an old Nordic warrior rune that represents strength, honour, justice and self-sacrifice for the higher cause – all important characteristics that we want to define how our organisation and our members appear and operate.
Is there a connection between your organisation and the old Nordic paganism?
The answer is both yes and no. Yes, because in many respects our organisation is based on the same belief system that our ancestors held, in regard to matters like ethics and morality. Our ideology reflects our people’s racial characteristics, just as Nordic paganism did.
No, because we are for religious freedom and accept that our members are Christian, atheists, or whatever they want to identify as or believe in. Most of our members are probably atheists or agnostics, but some are Christian, and some follow Ásatrú.
However, when it comes to culture and tradition, it’s a different matter. If we go by clothes and accessories, for example, there are probably many more of our members who appear to be pagans than there actually are. Many honour our ancestors and our people’s cultural tradition with things like tattoos and jewellery without actually believing in the Æsir and the old Nordic religion.
Members of the Nordic Resistance Movement have often been accused of being violent neo-Nazis. What is your opinion on that?
We are by no means pacifists, but we only allow the use of force in self-defence. If someone physically attacks us, or insults us to a certain degree, we will fight back – and hard enough that the attacker will hopefully regret it afterwards and spread the word to his grubby friends that they should watch out for us.
It is not that we want to fight, but rather that we feel we have a duty to fight back if we are attacked. If we had not fought back over the years, we would have been completely steamrollered by the “left” long ago. Instead we have fought for our rights and won the opportunity to stand proudly with our flags on the streets and squares across all the Nordic countries, and very often without having to use any further force.
So are we neo-Nazis? We are completely open and very clear that we are National Socialists – anything other than that is just an insult.
It is not that we want to fight, but rather that we feel we have a duty to fight back if we are attacked. If we had not fought back over the years, we would have been completely steamrollered by the “left” long ago. Instead we have fought for our rights and won the opportunity to stand proudly with our flags on the streets and squares across all of the Nordic countries, and very often without having to use any further force.
We have previously reported on the American Alt-Right. Do you have any contacts with the American movement?
We are constantly working to create good contacts with nationalist people around the world, and therefore we have contact with some American groups. However, the United States is a very large country, and the American movement has been severely infiltrated and divided over the years; it is therefore more difficult to assess than the Nordic or Italian scene, for example.
