In 2016, the Swedish Embassy in Hungary rebuked the government of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban for perpetuating the myth as part of a referendum campaign.
"It is important to be clear: such zones, however they are labelled or defined, do not exist in Sweden," a Swedish official told The Local.
Sweden is, of course, far from the only country painted as home to these violent Muslim enclaves. In 2015, a Fox News guest infamously claimed that the entire English city of Birmingham had become off-limits to non-Muslims.
“You basically have zones where Sharia courts were set up, where Muslim density is very intense, where the police don’t go in, and where it’s basically a separate country almost — a country within a country," said Steve Emerson, a self-described expert on terrorism.
This came as a surprise to residents of Birmingham, and Emerson's comment was widely mocked in the UK. The prime minister, David Cameron, said he choked on his porridge when he heard the claim, saying that Emerson "is clearly a complete idiot."