STOCKHOLM – Sweden’s government announced Tuesday it will establish a new civilian foreign intelligence agency following criticism that the country’s security services failed to anticipate Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The decision represents the implementation of recommendations from a public investigation that received preliminary approval last year. The new civilian intelligence organization will report directly to Sweden’s government.
“As is well known, we have a serious security situation and we face a broad and complex threat picture every day, and this places new and increased demands on our capabilities,” Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said during a press conference.
“We also have new expectations of ourselves as a NATO ally, and as we now develop our intelligence structure, we will also better match the structures that exist within NATO and among our allies,” Stenergard added.
Sweden’s Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST), similar to intelligence organizations in other countries, failed to predict Russia’s comprehensive military assault on Ukraine. This oversight prompted criticism in an official government review and from political leaders.
The newly formed agency will operate in conjunction with Sweden’s current security apparatus, which includes MUST, the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) that operates under police authority, and the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA), which handles signals intelligence operations.
According to Stenergard, establishing the new intelligence agency will cost approximately 2.8 billion Swedish crowns, equivalent to about $302 million. The funding will come primarily through budget transfers from the country’s armed forces.
Operations for the new intelligence service are scheduled to commence at the beginning of next year.
