Despite repeated warnings of Russian influence ahead of the elections, the Swedish Psychological Defense Agency has a different assessment. According to the agency, the Swedish election is not currently a priority target for Russian influence campaigns.
For several years, the threat of foreign influence on Swedish elections has been highlighted by politicians, authorities and established media. At the same time, the Swedish Psychological Defense Agency (MPF) now says that it does not see any increased activity aimed at the Swedish elections this fall.
– Our general assessment now is that we do not really see the Swedish election as a priority target for Russia and Russian influence, says the MPF project manager Jerker Sundstrand to TT.
According to the agency, although there is a low-intensity information campaign against Sweden, it is described as much less extensive than during the years of the NATO process, the Koran burnings and the LVU campaign.
”Doesn't really matter”
At the same time, MPF points out an explanation for why Sweden is not considered a main target. According to Jerker Sundstrand, there is broad political agreement on support for Ukraine, regardless of a change of government.
- In Sweden, it doesn't really matter who comes to power, because there is strong support for continuing to support Ukraine regardless, he says.
The MPF also states on its own website that Sweden ”is not currently a main target for Russian information influence” and that Swedish resilience is considered good.
Norway is highlighted as a comparison
In a previous interview with Göteborgs-Posten The MPF refers to developments in Norway, where researchers saw an increase in Russian-related posts ahead of the Norwegian elections. At the same time, the Norwegian research report found that the campaigns did not affect the election results themselves.
Other threats?
While the MPF dismisses the risk of Russian election interference, there is no mention of possible risks of interference by other countries.
When Sweden Democrat party leader Jimmie Åkesson visited In January this year, representatives of the Israeli government made no secret of the fact that they wanted to actively influence European politicians in a pro-Israeli direction. This was to ensure that in their respective parliaments they actively take a stand for Israeli interests, even at the expense of their own population. This is even said to have been made clear to the SD top brass Mattias Karlsson that the SD will ”do more when you govern” for Israel.
Just so tired of hearing about the Russian threat when the threat to us comes primarily from the EU and our own 8-clover.
Don't forget that JD Vance mentioned the threat from within regarding Europe.
Putin is not a threat & never has been.