National strategy to meet the threat of terrorism

The fight against terrorism demands enhanced cooperation across national frontiers and across different policy areas. The Government has drawn up a national strategy in which it describes the measures that will be implemented during this electoral period and the principles that will guide efforts to combat terrorism.

Terrorism today

Terrorism is not a new phenomenon; it is a feature of the political history of modern Europe. Since the beginning of the 1990s, however, a new threat picture has emerged both in Europe and in other parts of the world. The new threat is of a different nature in that it is characterised by strong links to religious extremism.

The most serious terrorist threat to Europe as well as globally is now posed by groups that seek to legitimise the use of violence by reference to extreme interpretations of Islam. Large-scale violence and destruction can be an end in themselves. Consequently, there is a greater risk of the civilian population suffering. The direct terrorist threat to Sweden and Swedish interests is considered low, but the threat picture can change quickly. What has happened in nearby countries in Europe could happen in Sweden too.

The concept of terrorism encompasses other phenomena besides planning and carrying out attacks. It can involve propaganda and the spreading of violent messages, the raising of money and support for terrorist networks, indoctrination, recruitment for suicide attacks, training in guerrilla warfare or bomb-making.

Strategy against terrorism

The fight against terrorism demands enhanced cooperation across national frontiers and across different policy areas. Sweden has joined the international drive against terrorism by participating actively in both EU and global cooperation, for example, by acceding to a range of UN conventions and applying various UN resolutions in the area.

A major terrorist attack in Sweden would confront the community with enormous challenges and strains. Much has been done to reinforce national structures and help strengthen national action. However, the threat of terrorism will persist for a long time to come and the Government would like to describe additional measures that will be implemented during this electoral period and the principles that will guide the work.

Sweden must be well prepared and well organised and must use its resources effectively and efficiently to meet the terrorist threat. The objective is for Sweden to work more effectively to

• pursue,
• prevent,
• protect against, and
• manage the consequences of terrorist activities.

The measures taken up in this strategy are therefore presented under headings corresponding to each of these areas.

Privacy and the rule of law

The fight against terrorism also raises the issue of the balance between society's need for security on the one hand, and the individual's legal rights and respect for human rights on the other hand.

The principle should be that the more serious the crime is and the more difficult it is to investigate, the more latitude there should be to use different forms of secret investigative measures to fight it. That said, account must be taken of the balance between the combined effect of all such measures on the one hand and the consequences that the measures taken together will have for privacy and the rule of law on the other hand. There can be no question of augmented powers unless such powers are combined with clear rules for their exercise and mechanisms for thorough scrutiny of the way they have been exercised afterwards. Since January 2008 there has been a governmental agency with a mandate to supervise the use of secret investigative measures by crime-fighting agencies: the Swedish Commission on Security and Integrity Protection.