The security situation in Sweden is already described as serious - and now Säpo assesses that it could deteriorate further, primarily as a result of Russian security threats.
"Russia continues to pose the greatest threat to Sweden. We have seen that Russia is carrying out a number of different activities in relation to Sweden," says Security Police Chief Charlotte von Essen.
In recent years, the country's actions have become more aggressive and risky. For example, Russia has been blamed for several acts of sabotage and incidents such as arson and vandalism across Europe. This is something that could also affect Sweden, according to Säpo.
But the escalated action could also involve spies gathering information, or recruiting agents here in Sweden, says Charlotte von Essen.
It can also involve influence activities and the use of cyber tools, and then you don't have to be in Sweden either.
“Managed to rule out”
Society's attention to suspicious activities has already increased and much more is being reported. But that does not mean that Russia is behind everything, the Säpo chief emphasizes.
What we can see is that there are a number of incidents that we have been able to rule out.
Sometimes it has been an accident, and sometimes it may not even have been an incident. An example is drone activity, where in many cases it has been determined that it was an airplane or helicopter.
There are also incidents where Säpo has not been able to provide evidence of who is behind them, and there are cases, such as cyber attacks, that have been traced to Russian security and intelligence services.
But the fact that foreign powers are not responsible for everything may be important to bear in mind if the security situation deteriorates further, the Säpo chief says.
We in Sweden need to be careful not to draw hasty conclusions. The risk is that we play into the hands of foreign powers and could ultimately contribute to an escalation.
This doesn't mean we should be naive. We should be suspicious, but at the same time keep a cool head.
Elevated terrorist threat level
The Säpo chief has also set the terror threat level, which remains elevated at three on a five-point scale. This means that a terrorist act may occur.
During the autumn, the far-right activist clubs have been more visible.
Are they a growing threat?
We do not see the active clubs, as such, as an attack threat. However, as in other groups, there may be individuals who pose a threat and who have both the intention and the ability to carry out an attack, and those are the ones we need to try to find.
