Sweden says Russia is greatest threat to its security | Global News Avenue

Scandinavian countries’ security service Sapo said Russia posed the biggest threat to Sweden due to its positive attitude towards the West.

It wrote in its annual report that the security of Sweden’s entry into the NATO military alliance strengthened its security, but also led to an increase in Russian intelligence activities. Russia denies any misconduct.

Sapo also said that Sweden’s security situation is serious – foreign powers operate in more threatening ways, as well as incidents of mixed wars and violent extremism.

Sapo head Charlotte von Essen said that “the tangible risk is that the security situation may worsen further”, which may be difficult to predict.

Sweden became a member of NATO last year, believing it was the best guarantee for Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In January, its Civil Defense Minister Warning “There may be war in Sweden” Due to Russian invasion, in the near future.

Russia’s intelligence activities were primarily intended to undermine cohesion among NATO members, offset Western support for Ukraine and circumvent sanctions, Sapo said on Tuesday.

It said these activities show that Russia is becoming increasingly risky and risky in the face of Swedes and wider European defensive capabilities.

“When gathering intelligence, Russia’s security and intelligence services use a wide range of resources and different platforms,” ​​the agency wrote, adding that these resources are restricted by the expulsion of intelligence officers.

Ms Von Essen said Swedes need to be alert to “a broad anti-national narrative and conspiracy theories” that try to act as a force of instability, adding that “it’s important that we don’t normalize new situations”.

Sapo in its report mentions suspicious incidents involving infrastructure and which countries may lag behind “in some cases.”

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a series of submarine cables and gas pipelines have been damaged in the alleged attack, prompting NATO to launch a monitoring mission at sea.

The latest violation was reportedly near Gotland, Sweden’s largest island, last month.

Russia denies any efforts to interfere with the country’s democratic system or seek to undermine its economy.

The Swedish government also believes that Iran and China pose a major security threat to Nordic countries.

Last year, Sapo Accused of Iran’s intelligent entry into text messaging service After several times the Quran burned, 15,000 messages were sent to the Swedes. Iran calls any such allegations “basically unfounded.”

SAPO’s 2025 report says foreign intelligence threats include cyber attacks, technology theft and a campaign to track foreign dissidents living in Sweden – the latter two are allegedly conducted by China. Beijing also denies any such participation.

It also said that the threat of terrorism is still high, but not only includes “ideologically motivated actors” but also foreign power and incitement of radical violence online by young people.

Ms von Essen said Sapo had seen examples of countries including Russia and Iran, inducing individuals, often young people, to commit violence.

The head of Sapo said there were serious attacks in France, Germany and Austria.

She noted that Sweden itself is dealing with the consequences of the “horrible incident of Orebro” referring to Sweden’s worst mass shooting last month, in which a gunman attacked an education center in central Sweden and killed nine people.

Sapo said violent Islamic extremism and violent right-wing terrorism remain a huge threat.

Sweden remains highly alert to terrorism – the threat level was assessed on a five-point scale.