Swedes more fearful of terror attacks: study
An increasing number of Swedes are worried about future terror attacks in the wake of the Stockholm suicide bombing and the Norway massacre on Utøya, a new survey has shown.
Fresh figures from Swedish polling firm Sifo show that percentage of Swedes who fear a terror attack has shot up from 29 to 40 percent over the past two years.
“Such worries are strongly influenced by current events and these have been happening nearby since the last study," said Thomas Gell from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap - MSB) to the TT news agency.
"We can’t say for sure, but it seems these events have caused the concern."
In December 2010, Taimour Abdulwahab blew himself up among Christmas shoppers in central Stockholm.
The following summer, Anders Behring Breivik took the lives of 77 people in Oslo and Utøya Norway.
MSB has measured statistics on citizens’ terrorist fears since 2007.
The previous results were published in 2009, showing that 29 percent of the people surveyed were ‘quite worried’ about such attacks.
In December’s Sifo survey, which was carried out in cooperation with MSB, it was reported that 40 percent of the 1,035 people surveyed claimed to be worried.
“This growth is significant and there is no mistake in the numbers,” Gell said to TT.
In the new research, the number of people worried about international terrorist attacks has also risen from 49 percent in 2009 to 53 percent this year.
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Fresh figures from Swedish polling firm Sifo show that percentage of Swedes who fear a terror attack has shot up from 29 to 40 percent over the past two years.
“Such worries are strongly influenced by current events and these have been happening nearby since the last study," said Thomas Gell from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap - MSB) to the TT news agency.
"We can’t say for sure, but it seems these events have caused the concern."
In December 2010, Taimour Abdulwahab blew himself up among Christmas shoppers in central Stockholm.
The following summer, Anders Behring Breivik took the lives of 77 people in Oslo and Utøya Norway.
MSB has measured statistics on citizens’ terrorist fears since 2007.
The previous results were published in 2009, showing that 29 percent of the people surveyed were ‘quite worried’ about such attacks.
In December’s Sifo survey, which was carried out in cooperation with MSB, it was reported that 40 percent of the 1,035 people surveyed claimed to be worried.
“This growth is significant and there is no mistake in the numbers,” Gell said to TT.
In the new research, the number of people worried about international terrorist attacks has also risen from 49 percent in 2009 to 53 percent this year.
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