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Local Sweden
5 days ago
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Family member of Swedish minister an 'active neo-Nazi', reports claim
A minister in Sweden's government has a close relative who is active in right-wing extremist and neo-Nazi groups, according to Swedish media. Advertisement According to anti-racist magazine Expo, which broke the story, a Swedish government minister has a family member who is active in a violent neo-Nazi network and has tried to recruit people to the nationalist and antisemitic organisation Det fria Sverige (The Free Sweden) via social media. It's also claimed the family member has collaborated closely with an activist from Nordiska motståndsrörelsen (Nordic Resistance Movement). The unnamed person has reportedly also taken part in activities alongside Aktivklubb Sverige, another neo-Nazi organisation. According to Expo, Swedish security police (Säpo) were unaware of the connection between the minister and their family member. "Regarding what information we do or don't have when it comes to the work we do protecting the central government leadership, that's something we can't go into in detail," Säpo press spokesperson Johan Wikström told the TT newswire. Sweden's right-wing government is made up of ministers from three different parties: the Moderates, Liberals and Christian Democrats. There are no ministers from the far-right Sweden Democrats, who support the government. Kim Hakkarainen, a Swedish security expert with a background within the country's Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST), told Expo that the situation is "serious". "That's a good word to sum it up," he said, adding that the minister's connection to the person in question could be a security risk. "It's a weakness which could be used by an antagonist, for example another state or antagonistic actor who wants to harm Sweden, in order to influence or use the minister's family member as an enabler," he said. Expo has contacted the minister, but has not received a response. The magazine managed to link the family member to six social media accounts on four different platforms. Five of the accounts were anonymous. These accounts included images of the person putting up racist stickers in a school and in their local neighbourhood. Advertisement The person's private account was followed by family members ‒ including the minister ‒ as well as people linked to the far-right. The family member's accounts were made private after the newspaper contacted the minister's press secretary.
Local Sweden
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Spy suspect is high-ranking Swedish diplomat, according to media reports
A person recently arrested in Sweden on suspicion of espionage is a top-level diplomat who has held several postings around the world, according to media reports. Advertisement The diplomat is suspected of spying that took place in Stockholm during the period May 1st to 11th, public broadcaster SVT said. A spokesman for the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), Johan Wikström, told AFP on Monday that "an operation was carried out the other day in the Stockholm area, after which one person is under arrest", adding that Säpo had opened an "espionage" case. Säpo has provided no other details about the case. According to court documents obtained by AFP on Tuesday, the suspect has been assigned a court-appointed lawyer, Anton Strand. Contacted by AFP on Tuesday, the foreign ministry refused to answer questions about the case and referred media to the justice ministry. Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer has yet to reply to AFP. "A number of measures have been taken as part of the Swedish Security Service's preliminary investigation, among other things a person has been arrested suspected of espionage," Strömmer told SVT. "This is of course a serious suspicion." "The investigation will now follow its course and I can't prejudge it. The government is being kept abreast of developments and is in close contact with the relevant authorities," he said. Advertisement A video clip published by SVT showed what it said was the diplomat's apartment door forcibly opened by police. Sweden has in recent years seen several high-profile spying cases. In January 2023, a former Swedish intelligence officer was handed a life sentence for spying for Russia. And in September of the same year, a Russian-Swedish national went on trial accused of passing Western technology to Russia's military. A Stockholm court found he had exported the material but ruled his actions did not amount to intelligence-gathering. In February 2024, the Swedish Agency for Support for Faith Communities cut funding to the Russian Orthodox Church in Sweden, after Säpo warned that it believed the church was being used for intelligence activities. In its annual assessment, published in March, Säpo spotlighted Russia, China and Iran as the primary actors directing intelligence activities targeting the Nordic country.
Local Sweden
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Swedish security police arrest person in Stockholm for espionage
Swedish intelligence said Monday it had arrested one person suspected of spying in the capital, declining to give any more details. Advertisement "An operation was carried out the other day in the Stockholm area, after which one person is under arrest," Johan Wikström, spokesman for the Swedish Security Service (Säpo) told AFP, adding it had opened an "espionage" case. Wikström said the operation had "proceeded calmly," but declined to disclose the nationality or gender of the suspect, or any other details. Sweden has in recent years seen several high-profile spying cases. In January 2023, a former Swedish intelligence officer was handed a life sentence for spying for Russia. And in September of the same year, a Russian-Swedish national went on trial accused of passing Western technology to Russia's military. A Stockholm court found he had exported the material but ruled his actions did not amount to intelligence gathering. Advertisement In February 2024, the Swedish Agency for Support for Faith Communities cut funding to the Russian Orthodox Church in Sweden, after Säpo warned that it believed the church was being used for intelligence activities. In its annual assessment, published in March, Säpo spotlighted Russia, China and Iran as the primary actors directing intelligence activities targeting the Nordic country.
Local Sweden
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Swedish police open 'sabotage' probe over Gotland water supply damage
Several electricity and communications infrastructures have been damaged in the Baltic Sea in recent months, after Finland and Sweden, which border the Baltic, joined Nato. Many experts and political leaders have attributed the incidents to a "hybrid war" carried out by Russia against Western countries. Authorities in Gotland, off Sweden's southeastern coast, "received an alarm regarding a water pump" on Sunday at around 5.30pm, police told AFP in an email. Police did not disclose the exact location of the incident. "A technician was dispatched to the scene and discovered that someone had opened an electrical cabinet, disconnected a cable and thereby cut power to the pump," police said. The technician reconnected the cable and reset the alarm at 9.30pm. "The pump is operational again," police said. Gotland police have cordoned off the area around the electrical cabinet in order to carry out a crime scene investigation. No suspect has been arrested yet, they said. If the action had gone undetected, much of Gotland's water supply could have been interrupted. Some 61,000 people live on the 3,140-square-kilometre (1,212-square-mile) island. The pump "supplies large parts of Gotland," Susanne Bjergegaard-Pettersson, the head of the island's water supply and sewage operations, told the Aftonbladet newspaper. Sweden's Säpo security police on Monday confirmed that the incident had taken place. "It is correct that there has been a report of an incident taking place yesterday," Johan Wikström, a spokesperson for Säpo, told the Aftonbladet.
