The terrorist threat in the country is on the third level out of five.
The terrorist threat in Sweden is still on the third of five levels, meaning the probability of attacks. The National Police leadership has therefore decided to introduce a special provision that increases the ability to react quickly to terrorist threats, according to a press release on the agency’s website on Friday.
“The police have good operational capabilities throughout the country. With the introduction of the special provision, we have a more flexible organisation that is able both to prevent terrorist attacks and to react quickly to possible incidents”, – said Stefan Hector, Commander of the Special Provision.
The press release notes that the police are taking those measures which, in light of the current situation, seem necessary to ensure national security. In this regard, the presence of police officers will be increased in some places. The national headquarters are monitoring the situation in the world against the backdrop of terrorist attacks in Austria and France and events during the American elections. The police have not yet given any specific recommendations, such as avoiding appearances in any places or behaviour.
On Thursday the government decided to extend the border control along the internal border until 11 May next year. The purpose of this measure is to ensure national security, identify potential terrorists and prevent terrorist attacks. Any other measures taken by the Cabinet are considered insufficient given the imperfect control of the external borders of the Schengen area, in particular the fact that many people entering one of its member countries do not remain there but move freely to other states in the area.
A series of terrorist attacks have occurred in Europe since late October, when a Tunisian man armed with a knife attacked parishioners in Notre Dame Cathedral in Nice. Three people were killed and on the same day, police officers in Avignon shot and killed a man who threatened to kill passers-by with a knife. Two weeks earlier, in a suburb of Paris, a radical Islamist had killed a schoolteacher who had previously shown cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to students. On 2 November, several armed terrorists fired in Vienna, killing five people.