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Sweden’s government said on Tuesday it would push forward with a plan to form a new spy agency targeting overseas threats, part of a wider rethink prompted by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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The new agency would be called Sweden’s foreign intelligence service (UND) and would start operations in January 2027, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said at a press conference.
“During the ongoing war in Ukraine, it has become very clear that an information advantage and the ability to rapidly and continuously adapt various technical systems are just as crucial as advanced weapons systems,” Stenergard said, adding that the new service would be comparable to the UK’s MI6.
Sweden already has a military intelligence service, the Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST), responsible for foreign threats, as well as the non-military Swedish Security Service (SAPO) which focuses on domestic threats.
Stenergard said the new service would take over some of the responsibilities of MUST and work closely with Sweden’s Armed Forces and SAPO, and the National Defense Radio Establishment (FRA) tasked with signal intelligence.
In 2022, Sweden dropped two centuries of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Stenergard noted that as an ally Sweden faced “new expectations”.
The country joined the security alliance in 2024.
“As we now develop our intelligence structure, we will also be better aligned with the structures that exist within NATO and among our allies,” she said.
The new agency would be tasked with identifying “external threats against Sweden”.
“Its activities are to be conducted through the collection, processing, and analysis of information,” Stenergard said.
A bill is being sent to the Council on Legislation, which scrutinizes draft laws, with the government saying in a statement that it plans to send it to parliament in June.
Additional sources • AFP