The Minister for Foreign Affairs presents the new agency - the Swedish Foreign Intelligence Service (UND) - at a press conference.
As is well known, we have a serious security situation and face a broad and complex threat landscape every day, which places new and increased demands on our capabilities, she says.
The idea is for UND to function much like the British intelligence service MI6, and to collect information about other countries and threats to Sweden, including terrorism, cyber threats and security risks.
The intelligence will then be reported to the government and the authorities that benefit from it.
To start in 2027
The operation will start on January 1, 2027, and the authority will work closely with the Armed Forces, Säpo and FRA.
The military intelligence and security service (Must) will remain in place. However, certain parts will be transferred to the new authority. For example, KSI (Office for Special Collection), which, among other things, works with personal collection (espionage) and whose activities are surrounded by very high levels of secrecy, will be transferred.
In this context, the defense has been critical of losing the opportunity to create false identities for Swedish intelligence officers on assignments abroad.
When it comes to qualified protection identities, the right to issue them also goes to the new authority, Malmer Stenergard comments.
Having both a civilian and a military intelligence service is considered to provide a more comprehensive picture of the threats to Sweden. The background to the creation of the new authority is precisely that intelligence work is considered to have previously failed, including when Must misjudged the lead-up to Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Troubled time
Some have warned against reorganizing a functioning operation in troubled times. But the Foreign Minister says it must be done now, not least because the security situation could deteriorate further. She sees no risk of a gap in intelligence work while the reorganization is underway.
We will implement this transition in stages, and this also applies to the transfer of personnel from other agencies.
The agency is estimated to cost 2.8 billion kronor in the first year, and according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, "a couple of hundred" people will work there.
The proposal is now being sent to the Legislative Council. The plan is then for a bill to be passed in June and a vote in parliament in August.
