The Swedish government is moving forward with plans for a new civilian intelligence service directly under the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The idea is that the agency will strengthen Sweden's analytical capacity regarding events and alleged threats abroad and complement the military intelligence service.

A special investigator, Annika Brändström, has been appointed to prepare the establishment of the new intelligence service, which according to the government's press release is to be operational on January 1, 2027.

The proposal is based on an investigation led by former Swedish Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who proposed that parts of the military intelligence service should be transferred to a civilian agency under the government.

– It will be an independent agency that, among other things, handles collection through technical means and with open information, and will be under the government like all other agencies, said Bildt at a press conference together with Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson, earlier this summer.

According to the press release, the new agency will meet the Government Offices' intelligence needs and work closely with the Swedish Armed Forces, FRA (the Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment), the Swedish Security Service, and other relevant actors within the total defense.

"Broader security threats"

Today, much of the intelligence operations are handled by the Swedish Security Service (Säkerhetspolisen) and the military intelligence service Must, which provide the defense forces and government with analyses.

According to Carl Bildt, this system has shown shortcomings, including in the assessments before the war in Ukraine escalated in 2022.

– We have seen a broader security threat against Sweden, just take cyber threats, terrorist threats, technology threats, investment controls and hostile state actors using different methods. We have not had quite as much control over things in our immediate area, which lie outside the immediate military sphere, as we should have had, he claimed in connection with the summer press conference.

"Swedish CIA" or British model?

Critics have compared the new intelligence agency to the notorious American intelligence service CIA.

– Well, it's difficult to make that comparison. It's more a larger version of what the British have with their Joint Intelligence Organisation. An independent agency that is collecting to some extent, but primarily analyzing, said Bildt.

Sweden's former prime minister emphasizes that the international community will perceive the agency as a significant increase in ambition.

– We have tripled resources over the past 15 years, there has been a continued expansion of this activity. It is an organization that is then a bit more similar to what most other countries already have.