Jörgen Holmlund, who teaches intelligence analysis at the Defense University, points out that the importance of protecting politicians is increasing and that more resources may be needed to be allocated.
We are in a different landscape now than before, he says.
This means that you also need to ensure how young people in the proximity of elected officials move to keep improper actors away from them.
The fact that violent extremism appears in the vicinity of a minister is, according to Holmlund, an example of how a security service's task has grown.
Difficult to keep track
The newspaper Expo revealed almost two weeks ago that Minister of Migration Johan Forssell's then 15-year-old son had been active in right-wing extremist circles.
It is unclear whether the Security Service (Säpo) was aware of this before Expo started asking questions. Holmlund, however, finds it difficult to believe that Säpo could have had control over the son and points out that it is not included in Säpo's mission to protect the central government leadership.
Following all ministers and all their respective spouses, I think is a fairly extensive task, says Holmlund.
It would consume quite a lot of personnel resources to follow and protect and also map how young people move in school environments, in sports contexts, in association life, and how they also move in social media.
Holmlund thinks, however, that politicians need more help to protect themselves against, for example, infiltration attempts or unwanted contacts.
No security clearance
Some ministers have continuous personal protection today, including bodyguards, while others have temporary personal protection depending on the threat picture. Säpo makes recurring assessments of the threat picture against them.
On the other hand, ministers are not security-checked, as one goes through the politician's lifestyle and relationships to detect potential security risks. The fact that elected officials would need to be approved from a security perspective, like officials in important positions, would be very sensitive.
But perhaps one should ask the question in a security assessment interview to everyone - do you see that there are improper actors in different ways in your proximity and what can we find in police records? says Holmlund.
So some kind of review may be needed?
A broader review at the individual level, also linked to relationships that can constitute a problem image that Säpo and others need to keep track of to protect you in your role as minister, as a member of parliament or as a municipal politician. It is a slightly more extensive task than what you have today.
