Sweden’s government said Tuesday it would push forward with a plan to form a new spy agency targeting overseas threats, part of a wider reset prompted by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The new agency would be called Sweden’s foreign intelligence service (UND) and would start operations in January 2027, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told a press conference.
“During the ongoing war in Ukraine, it has become very clear that an information advantage and the ability to rapidly and continuously adapt various technical systems are just as crucial as advanced weapons systems,” Stenergard told reporters, adding the new service would be comparable to the UK’s MI6.
Sweden already has a military intelligence service — called the Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST)– with a responsibility for foreign threats as well as the non-military Swedish Security Service (Sapo) which is focused on domestic threats.
Stenergard said the new service would take over some of the responsibilities of MUST, and work closely with Sweden’s Armed Forces and Sapo, as well as the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) which is tasked with signal intelligence.
The Nordic country dropped two centuries of military non-alignment and joined NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Stenergard noted that as an ally Sweden faced “new expectations”.
“As we now develop our intelligence structure, we will also be better aligned with the structures that exist within NATO and among our allies,” she said.
The new agency would be tasked with identifying “external threats against Sweden.”
“Its activities are to be conducted through the collection, processing, and analysis of information,” Stenergard said.
A bill was being sent to Council on Legislation, which scrutinises draft laws, with the government saying in a statement it was planning to send it to parliament in June.
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