Right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan had been burning holy books around Sweden for several months, but when he stood at the Turkish embassy on January 21 and set fire to a Koran, the temperature rose to a new level.
According to Säpo, Sweden went from a legitimate to a priority target for Islamist terror. Magnus Sjöberg, head of counter-terrorism at the police’s National Operative Department (Noa), calls it a “turning point”.
– We have communications and communiques from the majority of terrorist groups that currently mention Sweden together with Denmark and the Netherlands in statements. That makes the threat more tangible, he says.
After new revelations from the Koran, a destroyed Swedish embassy and threats from radical Muslim leaders, the concern about attacks has become greater. There are reports of reinforcement weapons and tighter border controls, but the police have not changed their way of working, according to the Noa chief.
“Worked hard”
The change, he says, dates back thirteen years. In October 2010, Säpo raised the terror threat level from a second, low threat, to the current third, elevated threat.
– Then they went from there not being a particularly relevant threat to the fact that it actually does. Threat level three has meant that we have worked hard to raise our capability, which was too low in 2010, to today have a capability that I am confident with.
It is partly about preventing attacks, and partly about dealing with them if and when they do happen. The former means, among other things, that, together with Säpo, they “sharpen” the intelligence work against individuals who are considered threats to the security of the kingdom.
– It can be about revoking weapons licenses, restricting business activities by stopping trade in certain goods or a general business ban, or having someone expelled or convicted.
Younger extremists
The police make the same observation among violent extremists as in gang crime – the actors are getting younger and younger.
– But within extremism we see more connections to mental illness. Young, angry, frustrated men who see violence as a way to change the world and their situation. It can result in a school attack, or in self-harming behaviour.
He describes the extremist milieu as two “waves”: a front that decides to resort to violence, and a back that urges on. The judiciary and society, he says, have been too far too busy with the young men.
– In the back degree there are to a greater degree the thinkers, older influencers and parents, even mothers, who in various ways invite and clarify ideals and expectations to which younger and lost boys respond.