STOCKHOLM – A 46-year-old Bosnian man who is banned from entering Europe’s passport-free area has sought asylum in Sweden, authorities said Thursday.

Police spokeswoman Ewa-Gun Westford said the man, whom she didn’t identify, was registered in the Schengen Information System (SIS) on suspicion of unspecified criminal activity.

“France has put a ban on him. I cannot say why because it is shrouded in secrecy,” said border police spokesman Leif Fransson. The man arrived Monday by plane from Tuzla in Bosnia-Herzegovina to Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city.

Both Westford and Fransson declined to identify him.

“He seemed nervous as he stood in the queue at the border control so we took him out and checked his documents,” Fransson told The Associated Press. “He said he came to Sweden as a tourist. After we told him there was a hit in the (SIS), he said he wanted to seek asylum.”

In January, Sweden was one of several European Union members that re-introduced border controls to help manage the flow of migrants. The Scandinavian nation was a top destination for asylum-seekers entering Europe last year.

In an email to The Associated Press, Sweden’s immigration agency confirmed the man had sought asylum and that the case would be expedited.

Westford said Sweden’s security service SAPO had been informed, calling it “a normal procedure.”

However, Neither Fransson nor Westford could confirm the Sydsvenskan daily’s description of the Bosnian as being a Muslim radical.

SAPO declined to comment on the case.