Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
'Most serious spy case in history', anti-extremism law postponed, ticks, and a lone wolf: find out what's going on in Sweden with The Local's roundup.
Swedish-Iranian brothers could be 'the most serious spy case in modern Swedish history'
The depth of penetration the suspected Russian spy Peyman Kia appears to have achieved into Sweden's intelligence agencies risks undermining the confidence of Sweden's intelligence partners, the intelligence expert Wilhelm Agrell has told Sweden's TT newswire.
"The worst thing that can happen is to have a partner who is leaking to your opponents," he said. "This could have devastating consequences for mutual confidence in the relation."
He said that the case could be even more serious than the cases of Stig Wennerström, who passed military secrets to the Soviet Union in the 1950s and early 1960s, and Stig Bergling, who was a spy in the 1970s, as neither of those two had penetrated Sweden's intelligence agencies.
Peyman Kia, 42, and his younger brother Payam Kia, 35, have both been charged with passing information to Russia, when the older brother was employed in counter-espionage at Säpo and Must, Sweden's military intelligence agency.
The extent of the damage, Agrell argued, depended on how early on Säpo had begun to suspect Kia and how they had acted on their suspicions.
Swedish vocab: svensk underrättelsetjänst – Swedish intelligence
Sweden postpones introduction of tougher measures against extremism
The parliamentary political parties in Sweden agree that state subsidies to organisations linked to extremism must be stopped. But the implementation of stricter rules is now being postponed.
“There have been objections from various quarters,” Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed said.
The Swedish government is withdrawing the bill on stricter requirements linked to democratic values for civil society groups and religious communities.
The bill aimed to tighten the rules so that no public funds go to anti-democratic forces or violent extremism.
Agreement on the issue was reached in the Swedish parliament in 2015. However, despite multiple proposals being presented, there is still no legislation in place.
The new government does not want to adopt the bill which the previous government put forward in August.
“It is the previous government’s bill. There have been objections to it from various quarters. The government is withdrawing it in order to prepare the issue further,” Forssmed told the news agency TT.
Swedish vocab: en invändning – an objection
More people in Sweden expected to get tick-borne encephalitis this winter
The currently mild weather is favourable for ticks. As a result, more cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) are expected this winter, the Swedish Public Health Agency has warned.
“If [the weather] continues to be this mild, we can count on more TBE cases coming in,” Marika Hjertqvist, an epidemiologist at the agency, told TT.
In the last five years, the agency has seen a substantial increase in TBE cases – a trend that looks set to continue.
Swedish vocab: en fästing – a tick
Suspected wolf attack in central Skåne
Five sheep have been killed and one wounded in a suspected wolf attack in Hörby, 30 minutes outside Malmö, meaning hunters are likely to be given the go ahead to shoot the predators.
"If an individual starts to see sheep as food, it's good to get rid of that individual," Nils Carlsson at the Skåne regional government, told the TT newswire.
Before the hunt can go ahead, DNA tests will need to show that the attack was carried out by the wolf pack which has established itself in the surrounding Linderödsåsen area, and not by a lone wolf which has entered Skåne from Östergötland, which was detected in October.
A wolf pack must carry out three attacks in a six month period before a wolf hunt is allowed, and the Linderödsåsen pack have so far carried out two. The lone wolf has not yet carried out any attacks on livestock.
Swedish vocab: en utomstående varg – a lone wolf
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Swedish-Iranian brothers could be 'the most serious spy case in modern Swedish history'
The depth of penetration the suspected Russian spy Peyman Kia appears to have achieved into Sweden's intelligence agencies risks undermining the confidence of Sweden's intelligence partners, the intelligence expert Wilhelm Agrell has told Sweden's TT newswire.
"The worst thing that can happen is to have a partner who is leaking to your opponents," he said. "This could have devastating consequences for mutual confidence in the relation."
He said that the case could be even more serious than the cases of Stig Wennerström, who passed military secrets to the Soviet Union in the 1950s and early 1960s, and Stig Bergling, who was a spy in the 1970s, as neither of those two had penetrated Sweden's intelligence agencies.
Peyman Kia, 42, and his younger brother Payam Kia, 35, have both been charged with passing information to Russia, when the older brother was employed in counter-espionage at Säpo and Must, Sweden's military intelligence agency.
The extent of the damage, Agrell argued, depended on how early on Säpo had begun to suspect Kia and how they had acted on their suspicions.
Swedish vocab: svensk underrättelsetjänst – Swedish intelligence
Sweden postpones introduction of tougher measures against extremism
The parliamentary political parties in Sweden agree that state subsidies to organisations linked to extremism must be stopped. But the implementation of stricter rules is now being postponed.
“There have been objections from various quarters,” Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed said.
The Swedish government is withdrawing the bill on stricter requirements linked to democratic values for civil society groups and religious communities.
The bill aimed to tighten the rules so that no public funds go to anti-democratic forces or violent extremism.
Agreement on the issue was reached in the Swedish parliament in 2015. However, despite multiple proposals being presented, there is still no legislation in place.
The new government does not want to adopt the bill which the previous government put forward in August.
“It is the previous government’s bill. There have been objections to it from various quarters. The government is withdrawing it in order to prepare the issue further,” Forssmed told the news agency TT.
Swedish vocab: en invändning – an objection
More people in Sweden expected to get tick-borne encephalitis this winter
The currently mild weather is favourable for ticks. As a result, more cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) are expected this winter, the Swedish Public Health Agency has warned.
“If [the weather] continues to be this mild, we can count on more TBE cases coming in,” Marika Hjertqvist, an epidemiologist at the agency, told TT.
In the last five years, the agency has seen a substantial increase in TBE cases – a trend that looks set to continue.
Swedish vocab: en fästing – a tick
Suspected wolf attack in central Skåne
Five sheep have been killed and one wounded in a suspected wolf attack in Hörby, 30 minutes outside Malmö, meaning hunters are likely to be given the go ahead to shoot the predators.
"If an individual starts to see sheep as food, it's good to get rid of that individual," Nils Carlsson at the Skåne regional government, told the TT newswire.
Before the hunt can go ahead, DNA tests will need to show that the attack was carried out by the wolf pack which has established itself in the surrounding Linderödsåsen area, and not by a lone wolf which has entered Skåne from Östergötland, which was detected in October.
A wolf pack must carry out three attacks in a six month period before a wolf hunt is allowed, and the Linderödsåsen pack have so far carried out two. The lone wolf has not yet carried out any attacks on livestock.
Swedish vocab: en utomstående varg – a lone wolf
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