Jews in Sweden told to drop Semitic identity by far-right politician Bjorn Soder

Jews living in Sweden should ditch their identity if they wish to be considered Swedes, according to the deputy speaker of the national Parliament.

The claim by Bjorn Soder of the far-right party Sweden Democrats has been condemned as "exactly like in 1930s Germany".

Soder told a Swedish newspaper "most Jewish people in Sweden left behind" their racial identity in order to assimilate.

Opponents have called on him to resign his post in the Parliament, which Soder has rejected. He said the remarks were taken "out of context".

Sweden's prime minister accused the party to which Soder belongs of being "neo-Nazi" and said the latest remarks were "very, very scary".

The leader of an anti-Semitism group told a news agency: "I am a Jew, born in Sweden. I am as Swedish as Björn Söder."