Sweden says Russia is greatest threat to its security

Russia is the greatest threat to Sweden because of its aggressive attitude towards the West, said the security service of the Scandinavian nation.

He wrote in his annual report that, if Sweden joining the NATO military alliance had strengthened its security, it had also led to an increase in the Russian intelligence activity.

SAPO also said that the security situation in Sweden is serious and could get worse – with foreign powers operating in a more threatening way and using hybrid war, as well as incidents of violent extremism.

Charlotte Von Essen, Sapo chief, said that there was “a tangible risk that the security situation could deteriorate more” in a way that could be difficult to predict.

Sweden became a member of NATO last year, considering the best guarantee against Russia following its large -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In January, his Minister of Civil Defense warned “there could be a war in Sweden” in the near future due to Russian assault.

SAPO said on Tuesday that Russia’s intelligence activities mainly aimed to undermine cohesion between NATO members, to counter Western support to Ukraine and bypass sanctions.

He said that these activities have shown that Russia became “increasingly offensive and subject to risks” in the face of an accumulation of larger Swedish and European defenses.

“When collecting information, Russian security and intelligence services use a wide range of resources and different platforms,” ​​wrote the agency, adding that they were limited by expelling intelligence agents.

Ms. Von Essen said that the Swedes should be vigilant on “generalized anti-state stories and conspiracy theories” which seek to act as a destabilizing force, adding that it was “important that we do not normalize the new situation”.

In his report, SAPO mentioned suspicious incidents involving infrastructure and which countries may have been late “in some cases”.

A series of submarine cables and gas pipelines have been damaged in suspected attacks since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which prompted NATO to launch a surveillance mission in the sea.

The last violation of this type was reported last month near Gotland – the largest island in Sweden.

The Swedish government has also identified Iran and China as a significant security threats to the Nordic country.

Last year, Sapo Iranian intelligence accused of hacking a text messaging service Send 15,000 messages to the Swedes, after several burns of the Koran.

SAPO’s report in 2025 said foreign intelligence threats included cyber attacks, technology theft and monitoring of the movement of foreign dissidents living in Sweden.

He also said that the threat of terrorism remains high, but diversified not only to include “actors with ideological motivation”, but also violence caused by a foreign power and young people with a fascination for violence that has been radicalized online.

Ms. Von Essen said that Sapo had seen examples of nations, including Russia and Iran, individuals, often inducing young people to carry out acts of violence.

Serious attacks have taken place in France, Germany and Austria, said Sapo chief.

Sweden itself was faced with the consequences of “the terrible incident in Orebro”, she noted, referring to the worst mass shot of Sweden last month in which a shooter attacked a center of education in the center of Sweden, killing nine people.

SAPO said that violent Islamist extremism and violent right terrorism have remained significant threats.

Sweden remains in high alert for terrorism – with the threat level evaluated at four on a five -point scale.