The Olof Palme Murder Case: Why the Trail Leads to NATO Interviewee: Kari Poutiainen Interviewer: Patrik Baab Published: August 30, 2026
Olof Palme
In this in-depth conversation with Kari Poutiainen, the renowned author and expert on the Olof Palme assassination, we analyze the dark side of the official investigation and the clues that extend far beyond a “lone wolf.” Kari Poutiainen reveals how international interests, intelligence agencies, and the pursuit of a nuclear-free zone in Europe sealed the fate of the Swedish Prime Minister.
The conversation with Kari Poutiainen covers:
– Palme as a threat to NATO: Why his plan for a neutral, nuclear-free zone in Scandinavia and Central Europe was considered an existential security risk in Washington and London.
– The Palme-Gorbachev axis: The secret diplomatic rapprochements between Stockholm and Moscow that could have meant the end of NATO in its then-current form.
– “Common Security” vs. “We Win, They Lose”: How Palme’s vision of a common European security clashed head-on with the aggressive doctrine of the Reagan era.
– The Invisible Companion: New insights into a mysterious “security guard” at the crime scene, whose presence suggests a professional state operation rather than a rampage.
– Intelligence Networks in Stockholm: The role of the CIA station in Sweden and its cooperation with the Swedish Security Service (SÄPO) in the shadow of the night of the assassination.
– Parallels to Aldo Moro: The anatomy of state crimes and why professional hit teams often operate in the background, while the public is presented with “lone wolves.”
“The investigation was a joke from the start. Palme wasn’t killed by a madman, but by forces that saw him as an obstacle to global geopolitics.”
Kari Poutiainen explains how a wall of disinformation and national security continues to prevent a true investigation. He points out that Palme’s assassination was not an isolated Swedish event, but a turning point in contemporary political history, the repercussions of which are more relevant than ever in today’s “Cold War 2.0.”
A conversation about the truth behind the silence, the manipulation of investigative authorities, and the legacy of a statesman whose vision of peace was too dangerous for many.
Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Why Olof Palme Became “Dangerous” for the USA and NATO 00:03:30 – The Alliance with Gorbachev: A Plan for a Neutral Europe 00:07:40 – Evidence in the Restricted Zone: The Role of the CIA in Stockholm 00:12:00 – The “Brotherhood” of Intelligence Agencies: SÄPO and International Networking 00:15:00 – Stay-Behind Armies and the Shadow Armies in Sweden 00:18:30 – Disinformation as a Weapon: Why “Whistleblowers” Often Throw Smoke Screens 00:23:30 – The Beige-Clad Man: An Unidentified Witness or The operator? 00:28:50 – The parallels to the Aldo Moro case: Military precision at the crime scene 00:37:00 – Witness manipulation: How Lisbet Palme was influenced 00:44:00 – Who controlled the investigators? Hans Holmér and the SÄPO bidding 00:49:00 – The farce of the “Lone Gunman” theory and the Scandia man 00:53:15 – Craig Williamson and the South African lead: Fact or distraction? 00:57:30 – Export ban and high-tech: How Palme got caught in the crossfire 01:01:00 – “Suicided” and the legacy: Why Palme’s ideas are missed today
The title and text of this article have been originally published on YouTube1, on April 25, 2025, by Thomas Karat2. The footnotes have been added by the administrator of this blog, “Sustainable Politics“.Thomas Karat published an extended article about the subject on his Substack, on April 25, 2025: “How Sweden Was Covertly Manipulated Into Joining NATO“3
An Assassinated Swedish Prime Minister4 and the NATO Connection Sweden didn’t join NATO. It was taken.
In this explosive interview with Professor Ola Tunander, Professor Emeritis at the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Norway 5, Thomas Karat traces a four-decade operation to assassinate not just a Prime Minister—but a national identity.
🔍 From the fake submarine scare of the 1980s (spoiler: it was NATO, not the Soviets)… 🕵️ To the still-unsolved murder of Olof Palme—the last real obstacle to U.S. military integration… 💣 To NATO’s secret terror networks operating across Europe under the guise of “stay-behind armies”… 🧠 To the media, academics, and political elites who programmed Sweden to fear peace and beg for protection…
This video exposes how Sweden’s neutrality was not outdated—it was inconvenient. And so, over 40 years, it was dismantled. Covertly. Methodically. Democratically… in appearance only. No vote. No public debate. Just manipulation disguised as consensus. This isn’t a documentary. It’s a post-mortem. Watch until the end to understand how democracies die—not with bullets, but with narratives.
Time Stamps: 00:00 Intro 05:50 Who is Ola 06:45 How to fool your counterpart 12:15 The dubious case of Sweden 19:30 A former empire pushes for war 27:55 The coming war with Russia 34:25 Stay behind armies 51:20 Deception to create terror 57:15 Swedens U-boat hoax 59:40 Whiskey on the rocks 01:10:06 How to manipulate a population 01:14:25 Sweden joins NATO 01:24:25 Who killed Olov Palme
Transcript, starting at 01:24:256 with the chapter: “Who killed Olof Palme?” (no timeline)
TK: I cannot avoid talking with you without mentioning all of Palmer’s assassination, so very very broadly, I mean first of all for people who do not know all of Palme web then prime minister of Sweden was assassinated by a lone gunman on the street on his way to or from a cinema with his wife, and this assassination has not been solved till today. Now it’s it’s probably also worth mentioning that this happened just one or two days before Omarov par was supposed to travel to Moscow to meet Gorbachev, to have uh discussions about a the daunt between Sweden and and Russia and of course that you already said that the elite, the military elite and maybe also the industrial elite in Sweden the second part of you know the second part of Sweden was not in favor of all of Palme so if I would ask you who I mean, not not asking which the person yeah but which interest group and maybe in the back of our minds still uh stay behind yeah, I do not know yeah, so which group of interest do you think might be responsible for all of Palmer’s assassination?
OT: Firstly, uh he was going to Moscow one month, not one two days after, but one month after uh after the the killing so it was going in the first days of April or something like that and he was shot on the 28th of February but uh and uh I think that it’s clear that that he had been he he wanted to have a he he started uh what was called an investigation or a commission from the collab related to the United Nation with Americans and Russians and uh some other Europeans and some from the third world also uh to find out about the possible uh change the closer collaboration with the great powers that was the idea, i mean it was called common security so it was the idea was that that the security of you your security is not you are not secure if you are if the other side does not feel secure so you you have to think in terms of how the other side thinks and uh on the Russian side were Yorgi Arbatov who was a close advisor to the to the Soviet leadership and also the very close adviser to Garbachov and and uh on the American side it was Cyrus Vance who had been under secretary of state and maybe also secretary of state for Yeah, uh so he, the idea was to collaborate and this was unacceptable for the for the Reagan administration at the time and for Thatcher so so they were they were strongly against this kind of collaboration and uh and it became impossible after the submarine incident started it was impossible for Wul of Palmer to have normal relationship with the Soviet Union because of the media situation in Sweden so so and in 1986 he went against uh the the media actually and uh and what you had also at the time you had in autumn of 88 85 a few months before you had what was called the naval officers revolt which was a a group of naval officers uh claiming that Ulf Palmer was not uh trustworthy that he one believed that he was collaborating with the Soviets and what you had was for example uh submarines that you knew you have indication clear indication of submarines and suddenly when the submarine was on its way out they received ceasefire order so they had to let the submarine out and for the people at the time there it was obvious that it was Soviet submarines so it must have been so they believed that Ulf Palmer must have let the submarines out in collaboration with the Soviets that that was uh the case and they then thought that Olaf Palmer was a traitor and uh and for example the head of this uh this so-called naval officers revolt Hans von Hofston who was a commander alo not very senior officer he he he his ——superior told Swedish TV that uh yeah he was informed about the meetings of some of this group it was also it was police officers also and they uh they had discussed how to get rid of Olaf Palmer they had not discussed any specific method to kill him but they had discussed how to get get rid of him and u and then Olaf Palma’s uh close advisor and state secretary Ulan told that he and Olaf Palmer was informed about these meetings and what he remember also was that they had had [1:31:17] done Hitler salute
TK: you said so you said so yeah no but yeah
OT: so that and so this was what you would call uh right-wing groups inside the the police forces and inside the navy and uh and some of these forces is were probably linked also to the stay-behinds actually so it was at the in the night uh when Olof Palme was shot it was a stay behind exercise in the area where he was shot, and that was the reason why people have seen uh men with walkie-talkies and so on because there were no mobile phones at the time and uh and um and that was and it was also kind of quite uh it’s some documents that had been made public now from the inquiry and there was a security service document claiming that it was this special exercise was also dealing with uh assassinations and and to take out people who were so-called carrier of information and these people were uh it was the idea the exercise the you know it started with that where an enemy had taken over Stockholm area, and of course that would be then Soviet Union had taken over Stockholm area, and uh and you had small groups coming in special force groups and and stay behind groups or kind of stay-behind groups, coming in from outside, uh setting up headquarters in the Stockholm area, and uh and one task would then be to eliminate certain people, so they so the enemy should not be able to take care of them.
TK: Was there not a list published with names or am I confusing this now, was there not a list of targets published?
OT: no I don’t think so
TK: okay
OT: i I I but this was a uh this that I refer to now was security service document and that tried to analyze the situation so to speak and and um so I I think we don’t know exactly who who did it who did it but but we know much more today than we knew just10 years ago and 10 years ago we knew much more than we knew 20 years ago so at least we know something and and uh and you could say that it’s very clear which interests that that thought that Olaf Palmer was a a very problematic person he had powerful enemies within Sweden within UK within America and I just saw that President Nixon already called him the Swedish pardon my French and accused him to be an agent and KGB influence agents yeah that goes already back to Nixon yeah I mean Nixon called him that Swedish but but uh this was agent of influence i know that James Jesus Angleton who was a CIA counter intelligence guy for 20 years or something like that he was he was kicked out actually by Bill Colby that I mentioned before uh in 1975 and but he the Swedish uh the Swedish counter intelligence chief for the Swedish security service had Angleton as his opposite number and visiting him at Langley and uh that was CIA headquarters and and and he and and Angleton had told that he considered Olaf Palmer as an agent of influence and for these kind of people in Sweden what the Americans told was the truth so to speak so so so they they they so they had they considered him a kind of agent of influence and and they also he said that they could not report he didn’t write down in the files about Olaf Palmer because we have a traitor at uh at the security service Mikuel Bentler because he was a traitor because he spoke with Olaf Palmer he spoke with he he reported to the prime minister what is that what the security service were doing what a crime yeah yes so that was a so so that was um I think another indication of a divided Sweden
