At a press conference on Tuesday, Mikael Tofvesson, head of the operational department at the Agency for Psychological Defense, announced that the tone towards Sweden is more aggressive now than it has been before.
According to him, foreign actors are also trying to spread the idea that Sweden is a legitimate target for, for example, terrorism.
- We note that a greater number of messages endorsing violence have been active and visible in comparison to the LVU campaign and the Easter riots.
However, we must emphasize that we do not assess the terrorist threats themselves, that is the responsibility of the security police, says Tofvesson.
According to the Security Police, the events we have seen in recent weeks may be things that affect people in extremist environments and their intention to commit attacks.
- The security police naturally follow developments closely in our surrounding world.
We can state that we consider the prevailing situation to be problematic and can be threatening, says Fredrik Hultgren-Friberg, press spokesperson at Säpo.
Terror threat level 3 out of 5 for a long time
The security police assess the terrorist threat level for Sweden as elevated, a third on a five-point scale.
But they have been at that level for several years.
The assessment is long-term and is rarely affected by individual events.
- It must be emphasized that when it comes to the threat of attack, it is the intention and ability of individuals that we assess.
We work on that all the time and we work intensively and continuously to protect Sweden from this type of event.
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Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) and Mikael Tofvesson, head of the operational department at the Agency for Psychological Defense, hold a press conference after a meeting on Sweden's security to which the Prime Minister invited all party leaders of the Riksdag parties.
Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT