The Swedish Internal Security Service (SAPO, for the Swedish acronym) warned on Tuesday that it expects the Russian Federation to step up Swedish security-threatening activities in areas such as telecommunications and the power grid.
SAPO chief Charlotte von Essen said Russian actions were “unpredictable” but underlined that “Russian activities threatening Sweden’s security are expected to increase”.
Sectors “where there is reason to be particularly vigilant against espionage and sabotage” are telecommunications, electricity supply and the transport of “critical equipment”, said Von Essen, without going into this material.
“There is interest from the Russian side in disrupting these areas,” the official added. “These are sectors where attacks on Sweden could harm the rest of Europe.”
Von Essen was speaking at the end of the People and Defense conference in Salen, a ski resort in central Sweden.
This annual event was attended by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, as well as the Swedish Foreign Minister and several analysts.
SAPO’s director also added that she hopes that Kremlin leaders will “use unofficial platforms such as the Russian diaspora, institutions and companies in Sweden more than hitherto”.
Von Essen also warned that SAPO is seeing a steady increase in “conspiracy theories and anti-state messages, which in the long run threaten to undermine confidence in social institutions, in the political decision-making process and in the legitimacy of the state”.
This background carries its own risks: “Widespread extremism can lead to threats of assassinations as well as threats to our constitution. This is a development that stems from a foreign power.”
On the other hand, von Essen declined to say whether Russian activity had increased since Sweden — and neighboring Finland — applied for NATO membership following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These two Nordic states have a long history of non-alignment.
Source: DN
