Sweden removes paintings with swastikas from museum

Swedish Foreign Ministry requested this week to temporarily remove two paintings containing swastikas from the museum of modern art in Stockholm.

The Swedish foreign ministry said this week that the paintings might spark discomfort at the conference for the European Union Foreign Ministers to be held in the city at the end of the week.

The museum spokeswoman confirmed the request and added that the foreign ministry also requested that a painting containing female genitalia be removed from the museum walls, but the museum declined the request as they feel that sometimes art should be offensive.

"The foreign ministry asked us to remove the paintings from the museum", the museum spokeswoman told Haaretz, "to avoid offending Sweden's guests at the conference this weekend."

The spokeswoman added that the request to remove the paintings was not against freedom of speech, as their removal was only part of the preceding preparations taking place for the convention. The spokesman also said that the museum will be closed to the public during the specific weekend.