Latest news with #Säpo
Saudi Gazette
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Swedish migration minister ‘shocked and horrified' by teenage son's far-right links
STOCKHOLM — Sweden's Migration Minister Johan Forssell has said he is 'shocked and horrified' after learning that his teenage son had been involved with violent far-right extremist groups, according to domestic media reports. The revelation comes after the Swedish security service, Säpo, contacted Forssell several weeks ago to alert him to the activities of his 16-year-old son. Forssell, a member of the centre-right Moderate Party who formerly served as foreign trade minister, is part of a governing coalition that relies on support from the far-right Sweden Democrats. The minister went public following an exposé by the anti-racism magazine Expo, which revealed that a 'close relative of a Swedish minister' had ties to the extremist far-right. According to the magazine, the son is reported to have attempted to recruit individuals to a white supremacist organisation and taken part in activities with the neo-Nazi and violence-prone group Aktivklubb Sverige. Speaking to TV4, Forssell said: 'As a father you are shocked, you are horrified. I have a deeply remorseful 15-year-old, who just turned 16. These activities are over but our conversations will, of course, continue.' Although Forssell followed his son on social media, where the teenager had been engaging with far-right activists and influencers, he said he was unaware of the extent of his involvement until Expo contacted him. He emphasised that his son is not suspected of any criminal wrongdoing. Taking to social media, Forssell described the incident as a potential 'eye-opener' for parents. 'It highlights a bigger societal issue,' he wrote. 'How much do we actually know about what our children do on social media, and how can we protect them from being dragged into something we don't want?' Far-right extremists have maintained a presence in Sweden for years and often recruit teenage boys and young men online, reaching out first on mainstream platforms before shifting to private channels. The Sweden Democrats, who hold considerable sway in the coalition government, have historic links to neo-Nazi movements and became Sweden's second-largest party in the last general election. Although Forssell intends to remain migration minister, he assured that he will 'continue to take responsibility" and be 'focused on implementing the policies we have received support from the Swedish people for.' Nonetheless, the issue is already prompting political fallout. According to local media, the Left Party has demanded that Forssell be summoned to the Riksdag and 'lay the cards on the table'. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has offered his backing to Forssell since the information on his son's involvement became public. 'He has acted as a responsible parent should when you learn that your child is doing wrong and is in bad company," Kristersson said. — Euronews
Euronews
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Swedish migration minister 'horrified' by teenage son's far-right ties
Sweden's Migration Minister Johan Forssell has said he is 'shocked and horrified' after learning that his teenage son had been involved with violent far-right extremist groups, according to domestic media reports. The revelation comes after the Swedish security service, Säpo, contacted Forssell several weeks ago to alert him to the activities of his 16-year-old son. Forssell, a member of the centre-right Moderate Party who formerly served as foreign trade minister, is part of a governing coalition that relies on support from the far-right Sweden Democrats. The minister went public following an exposé by the anti-racism magazine Expo, which revealed that a 'close relative of a Swedish minister' had ties to the extremist far-right. According to the magazine, the son is reported to have attempted to recruit individuals to a white supremacist organisation and taken part in activities with the neo-Nazi and violence-prone group Aktivklubb Sverige. Speaking to TV4, Forssell said: 'As a father you are shocked, you are horrified. I have a deeply remorseful 15-year-old, who just turned 16. These activities are over but our conversations will, of course, continue.' 'Eye-opener' for parents Although Forssell followed his son on social media, where the teenager had been engaging with far-right activists and influencers, he said he was unaware of the extent of his involvement until Expo contacted him. He emphasised that his son is not suspected of any criminal wrongdoing. Taking to social media, Forssell described the incident as a potential 'eye-opener' for parents. 'It highlights a bigger societal issue,' he wrote. 'How much do we actually know about what our children do on social media, and how can we protect them from being dragged into something we don't want?' Far-right extremists have maintained a presence in Sweden for years and often recruit teenage boys and young men online, reaching out first on mainstream platforms before shifting to private channels. The Sweden Democrats, who hold considerable sway in the coalition government, have historic links to neo-Nazi movements and became Sweden's second-largest party in the last general election. Although Forssell intends to remain migration minister, he assured that he will 'continue to take responsibility" and be 'focused on implementing the policies we have received support from the Swedish people for.' Nonetheless, the issue is already prompting political fallout. According to local media, the Left Party has demanded that Forssell be summoned to the Riksdag and 'lay the cards on the table'. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has offered his backing to Forssell since the information on his son's involvement became public. 'He has acted as a responsible parent should when you learn that your child is doing wrong and is in bad company," Kristersson said.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Sweden's migration minister ‘shocked' by teenage son's far-right activism
Sweden's migration minister has said he is 'shocked and horrified' after discovering his teenage son's involvement in far-right extremist groups. Johan Forssell, whose centre-right party runs a governing coalition that depends on the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats, said on Thursday that he had been contacted a few weeks ago by the Swedish security service, Säpo, about his 16-year-old son's activities. The minister decided to go public after the anti-racism magazine Expo revealed that a 'close relative of a Swedish minister' was active in the violent far right. Despite following his son on social media, where his son in turn followed far-right activists and influencers, Forssell said he had no idea about his involvement until he was contacted by journalists. 'As a father you are shocked, you are horrified. I have a deeply remorseful 15-year-old, who just turned 16,' Forssell told TV4. 'These activities are over but our conversations will, of course, continue.' Writing on social media, he said he hoped it would be an 'eye-opener' for other parents, saying the findings 'highlight a bigger societal issue'. 'How much do we actually know about what our children do on social media and how can we protect them from being dragged into something we don't want?' Forssell said his son, who has not been named, is not suspected of any crime. Far-right extremism has long been present in Sweden, but experts say recent years have seen a shift towards smaller, more agile groups, often based around fitness, recruiting boys and young men on social media platforms before moving to other private platforms. The number of active groups in the Swedish far right are believed to be at their highest point since 2008. The last general election saw the Sweden Democrats, which has roots in neo-Nazism, become the country's second biggest party and gain a powerful role in the direction of the governing coalition. Forssell, of the Moderates party, decided to speak publicly, he said, in order to protect his son. 'This has not been about protecting me as a politician, this is about protecting a minor,' he said. But it is already having political ramifications. The opposition parties have all called on Forssell to be summoned to the Riksdag (the Swedish parliament) as soon as possible and have asked how much the government knew about the boy's activities. The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said on Thursday that he still had confidence in his migration minister, saying he said 'acted as a responsible parent should when you learn that your child is doing wrong and is in bad company'. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion The Left party accused Forssell, who supports lowering the age of criminal responsibility for young people from 15 to 14, of double standards. 'Johan Forssell and the government have had a very high tone when it comes to the responsibility one has for one's relatives' connections to, for example, gang crime – now they seem to have a very different approach,' said the Left party's migration policy spokesperson, Tony Haddou. Forssell said: 'I know that there are other parties that want to score political points on this. If they want to do it, they can do it, but above all, this is a task for me as a father.' He planned to remain in his ministerial post, he said, adding that he was 'fully focused on implementing the policies for which we have received support from the Swedish people.' Säpo declined to comment on Forssell's case, but said it was 'constantly working to monitor violent extremist environments in Sweden'. The spokesperson added: 'Säpo generally has a good picture of the security situation around our protected persons, including any threats and vulnerabilities.'
Local Sweden
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Säpo bodyguards' Strava runs 'reveal locations of Swedish PM and royals'
Bodyguards from the Swedish Security Police (Säpo) have accidentally revealed the location of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and members of the royal family on multiple occasions by uploading runs or rides to the Strava training app, it has been claimed. Advertisement The information was leaked when seven bodyguards uploaded their runs to popular training app Strava, newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) reports. The bodyguards had public accounts on the app and uploaded runs that included maps of routes, the time of day they were carried out and even the pace. This information, the newspaper reports, could in the worst case scenario be used by someone planning an attack on Kristersson to work out his location and address. Strava information has previously been used for this type of attack elsewhere. In 2023, a Russian commander was killed whilst out on a run ‒ his last recorded workout on Strava was 'liked' by the head of Ukraine's military intelligence services. Using the Strava info Dagens Nyheter was able to map Kristersson's location on at least 35 occasions, including discovering the location of his home in Södermanland, which is classified, and the hotel the prime minister and his wife were staying at when on a private trip to Åland. The bodyguards' Strava runs also revealed the location of other officials, like members of the royal family, former prime ministers Magdalena Andersson and Stefan Löfven, and Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson, the newspaper claimed. "This is very serious," security expert Carolina Angelis, who has a background in Swedish intelligence services, told Dagens Nyheter. "Potential threats use all open information which is available to map people and track their movement patterns. If you know that someone always runs on Djurgården on Saturdays at 3pm then it becomes much easier to plan an attack or kidnapping," she said. Advertisement The newspaper collected data on more than 1,400 runs, in Sweden and abroad, which in some cases revealed trips by public officials which had not been made public. Some of the bodyguards recorded runs from within Säpo's headquarters in Solna, providing information on their movements within the classified building. "The information revealed in this investigation is something we take very seriously," Carolina Björnsdotter Paasikivi, Säpo's head of security, told DN. "This is information which could be used to track Security Police activities. We're now investigating what effects this could have had." DN contacted Säpo and alerted them to the leak, giving them three days to fix it. Afterwards, the accounts were closed or made private. Paasikivi added that the agency "has routines for this" but that it appears that they have not been followed in some cases. "We're undertaking measures to make sure our guidelines are followed. Other than that, I can't go into our internal work in more detail other than we are taking measures to make sure it won't happen again."
Euractiv
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
Swedish PM's security jeopardised by bodyguards' fitness app data
In a major breach of security, members of Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's personal protection team have openly monitored their activity using popular fitness tracking app Strava, Swedish media revealed on Tuesday. Swedish Security Service (Säpo) bodyguards inadvertently exposed sensitive information through the fitness tracking app Strava on at least 35 accounts, allowing users to trace Kristersson's movements, residence, jogging routes – even his running pace, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reported. Seven Säpo agents responsible for Kristersson's protection were found to have left their activity logs public, which allowed the Swedish daily to map high-level officials' past locations. The exposed data not only concerns current PM Kristersson but also includes information related to former Prime Ministers Magdalena Andersson and Stefan Löfven, the royal family, and far-right Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson. Following the revelations, the Strava profiles in question were either locked or taken offline. The Swedish Security Service said it was going to review its procedures. "We are taking action to ensure that protocols are followed,' said Carolina Björnsdotter Paasikivi, head of Säpo's security division. "I can't go into internal measures, but steps are being taken to prevent this from happening again." No direct threat related to this leak has been reported so far. In October 2024, Le Monde revealed that French President Emmanuel Macron, the then US President Joe Biden, and Russia's Vladimir Putin faced similar issues as their bodyguards recorded their runs on the fitness application. Strava counts more than 150 million users from 185 countries, according to the platform's website. Claudie Moreau contributed to this reporting. (vib)
