Swedish intelligence says it identified foreign spies searching for secrets

The military intelligence service of Sweden warned last week that there were increasing incidents of espionage perpetrated against Sweden by operatives identified “beyond doubt” as agents of foreign powers. In its annual report for 2016, the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST) said large numbers of spies were detected around “sensitive installations” mostly of a military nature. Headed by an Army general, MUST is responsible for military intelligence and counterintelligence in Sweden. Every year it produces a report of its activities for the Swedish government and defense establishment, and also publishes a declassified version. Its latest report warns about growing attempts by foreign countries to “gather intelligence about Sweden’s defense assets and capabilities”. 

On Friday, Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet published an interview with senior MUST official Jan Kinnander. He told the paper that MUST was able to identify beyond doubt that certain individuals were “connected to the intelligence services of foreign states”. These persons traveled to Sweden “under false pretenses”, according to the official. A few of them were diplomats, said Kinnander, while most attempted to travel around the Scandinavian country using “conspiratorial methods”. Many were detected prowling around government installations that are linked to Sweden’s national defense while having “no reasonable cause” to be there, said Kinnander.

When asked to identify the countries that engage in espionage against Sweden, Kinnander said he could not elaborate, except to say that MUST linked the alleged spies with “several countries, including Russia”. In December of last year, MUST Director Gunnar Karlsson told Swedish media that Russia was a leading perpetrator of intelligence operations against Sweden. These operations included active measures involving propaganda, deception and other psychological activities, he said. In recent years, the Swedish authorities have arrested Polish, Lithuanian and other Eastern European nationals, allegedly because they were seen photographing Swedish military installations.

IntelNews

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