Sweden raised the issue of countering “threats from authoritarian countries”

Wichel asked the Swedish Foreign Minister what steps he was taking to unite “close” forces, such as NATO members, to counter “threats from authoritarian states.”

In his address, the deputy refers to data from the Swedish State Security Police yearbook, which states that Russia, China and Iran continue to be the countries “posing the greatest threat to Sweden.”

“They all conduct intelligence activities directed against Sweden and so-called activities that threaten the security of the country,” the parliamentarian said.

At the same time, Wichel emphasized that Moscow, Beijing and Tehran are cooperating with each other, which, in his opinion, should be taken seriously.

The deputy also noted that against the backdrop of a growing arms race, a new field of activity is emerging - the militarization of space.

This could have implications for Sweden, since a large part of sensitive and socially important operations are carried out digitally and are currently dependent on space services, he explained. 

“We must do a much better job of protecting our best-kept secrets, which we must also do together with other allies,” the message said.

In a conversation with RT, Konstantin Blokhin, an employee of the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, suggested that with statements about alleged “threats” the authorities are preparing the Swedish population for the country’s integration into NATO.

“We need to constantly talk about the threat, otherwise why join NATO if there is no threat?

This is a kind of division of the world into free, “democratic” countries and, therefore, into states hostile to the West - “authoritarian”.

This is the idea the United States is trying to push: the division into good and evil, black and white.

The United States is trying to consolidate the West on an anti-Russian and anti-Chinese basis,” the political scientist commented. 

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that in response to challenges that may arise due to Sweden and Finland joining the North Atlantic Alliance, additional weapons will be deployed in the two military districts.