"Stop the violence"

The cages are one of the examples of how the police prepared for this year's Eritrean cultural festival, which has been held annually since the 1990s, but which was derailed last year . Massive brawls broke out, vehicles were set on fire and stones were thrown at police as supporters of the festival, who are accused of being loyal to the regime in Eritrea, and counter-protesters critical of the regime clashed.

- Last year there was no stopping the amount of violence that was perpetrated and we can't have it that way, says Ola Österling.

During the year, the police evaluated what went wrong. Among other things, there were too few police officers and the different groups were allowed to get too close to each other. This year, the police will receive reinforcements from the rest of the country from Thursday morning, the first day of the festival.

Demonstrations are also expected this year

This year, a larger counter-demonstration by Eritrean associations critical of the regime has been given permission to take place approximately one kilometer away from the festival. The police are also handling an application from the same organizer for a demonstration train, which is supposed to pass by the festival.

- We are currently discussing this with the applicant. The march route is not ready yet, says Ola Österling.

Eritrea expert Kjetil Tronvoll recently told GP that there will likely be riots in Stockholm again and that there is increasing polarization among Eritreans.

But Ola Österling at the Stockholm Police has good hopes that things will go well.

- Because we are prepared to the teeth.