In August, the terror threat level was raised to a four on a five-point scale.
– When we stand here four months later, we can state that the high terrorist threat remains and that we have seen various events in the outside world that also affect Sweden, says Strömmer.
He raises the terrorist attack in Belgium when two Swedish football supporters were killed as an example.
Strömmer points out three main threats to Sweden.
– Terrorism, state actors who act hostile to Sweden and serious organized crime.
Säpo, together with the military intelligence services, has been tasked with strengthening its operational work to counter terrorism.
“Continue as usual”
Earlier this week, EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson said that there is a “tremendous risk” of terrorist attacks in the EU during the Christmas holiday as a result of the war between Hamas and Israel.
At the moment, there are no concrete threats to the Christmas trade in Sweden, according to Säpo.
– In terms of experience, we know that activity usually increases. We don’t see an increase in the type of threats that target holidays or the Christmas trade, says Säpo’s acting chief operating officer Fredrik Hallström.
Police are working more intensively against terror since the threat level was raised, but are urging people to carry on with their lives as usual.
– The constant question is “should you go to concerts?”, “should you go to the Christmas shopping?” and our message is: continue to live the life you lived before, says Per Engström, head of command at NOA, and continues:
– Don’t let the threat in any way cause us to back down as a nation.
The terrorist threat level remains
During the summer, Sweden’s security situation deteriorated, according to an assessment by Säpo with support from the military intelligence service. The terror threat level was raised from a three to a four at the end of August.
There were several things that caused the terrorist threat level to be raised. Reactions to Koran burnings in Sweden were part of it, as well as disinformation campaigns about Swedish Social Services and the war in Ukraine. All in all, Sweden had gone from a “legitimate target” to a “priority target”.