The number of anti-Semitic crimes reported in Sweden rose 57 percent last year, the national crime prevention council said on Thursday.

Last year, 250 anti-Semitic crimes were reported, mainly in the southern region of Skåne, up 57 percent compared to 2008, the report said, adding the overall number of hate crimes reported in Sweden had remained unchanged.

“In 2009, 5,800 hate crimes were reported. Crimes against foreigners or with racist motives continue to dominate, and the reporting of anti-Semitic crimes has increased,” the council said in a statement.

Presenting its latest hate crime statistics report, the council added that it did not know if there had been an actual increase in the number of anti-Semitic crimes or merely in their reporting.

Crimes and threats against the small Jewish community in the southern city of Malmö recently received much media and political attention.

Swedish education minister Jan Björklund met with Jewish community leaders earlier this year after it was reported some Jews decided to leave the city because they felt unsafe.

Malmö mayor Ilmar Reepalu was criticised in the media for failing to stop the crimes or even fueling the anti-Semitic sentiment in the city.

Of the 5,800 hate crimes reported in Sweden in 2009, 71 percent were against foreigners or motivated by race, 18 percent were related to sexual orientation, 10 percent had religious motives (Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, or anti-religious crimes) and one percent were against transexuals.

http://swedishwire.com/politics/5237-anti-semitic-crimes-soar-in-sweden