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From: TT
Published:
Photo: Pontus Lundahl / TT
Minister of the Interior Mikael Damberg (S). Stock Photography.
For some years, there were fewer Islamist terrorist attacks in Europe and against Western interests. But that trend now appears to have been broken, says Interior Minister Mikael Damberg (S), noting that security has been tightened in several places in Sweden.
– It is another terrible act, a terrorist attack that affects completely innocent people. We’ve seen several different countries have been affected recently, says Mikael Damberg of the attack in the Austrian capital Vienna on Sunday night.
At least four people died and more than 20 were injured and taken to hospital after a perpetrator opened fire in the central areas of the capital.
Recently, a number of alleged terrorist acts with Islamist overtones have occurred in Europe. Especially in France, where, among other things, an assailant killed three people on 29 October in a church in Nice.
– What’s new about this is that we have seen for some years that Islamist terror attacks in Europe actually decreased. Now we no longer see that development. In Sweden, the Islamist threat and the threat from right-wing extremist groups remain the biggest threats, says Mikael Damberg.
Lacks protection
He claims that the Säpo and the Police Authority have strengthened their coverage of French, Austrian but also Jewish interests in Sweden. The attack in Austria took place in part outside a synagogue, but it is unclear whether the attack was aimed at the Jewish congregation.
The president of the Jewish Central Council, Aron Verständig, tells TT that the threat to Jews in Sweden has increased. You meet politicians and you talk about this, they listen but there is still no solid protection.
Mikael Damberg’s response is that the police are expanding and the authority is receiving more resources to get 10,000 more employees by 2024.
– This means that the police have greater opportunities to monitor and ensure protection in the event of a new threat assessment, as now when the police and security police make the assessment that they increase monitoring of Jewish interests in Sweden.
It also mentions the financial support that religious communities can request from the Chamber of Deputies to increase protection and security in, for example, the form of guards in buildings. But money is not enough, according to Jewish organizations.
TT: Talk about more cops, but when can these organizations feel like they have strong protection?
– Yes, but it also depends on the development of our world. If we see that threats to Jewish interests are increasing in many countries, the threat landscape here in Sweden also increases. Unfortunately, what’s fine between right-wing extremist groups and militant Islamist groups is that they both have Jewish interests on their agenda, and that’s very dangerous.
Third level
The National Center for Terrorist Threat Assessment (NCT) assesses that there is an increased threat of terrorist attacks in Sweden, which is level three on a five-point scale. This means that a terrorist attack can occur. According to Mikael Damberg, the security police have a pretty good image of organized structures that could pose a threat.
– But as the Security Police has emphasized, when there are more loose groups and lone actors, it is much more difficult to call them and follow up on them.
Damberg notes that Säpo has cracked down on radicalized environments in Sweden, especially linked to schools where extreme groups have taught. But recent events in Europe mean that the risk of an attack in Sweden may have increased.
– We have seen that when our neighboring countries are affected, it can also happen in Sweden, says Mikael Damberg.
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