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SWEDEN IN FOCUS

Almedalen special: Why does Sweden make life so hard for foreign talent?

Sweden in Focus has a special episode this week from the Almedalen political festival, where James Savage went to interview experts on the hot topics of work permits and Russia's hybrid war against countries like Sweden.

Published: 29 June 2024 09:55 CEST
Sweden in Focus
Sweden in Focus. A podcast by The Local. Image: The Local

In this special episode of Sweden in Focus, James Savage travels to the Almedalen political week on Gotland, where he asks the chief economist of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Sven-Olov Daunfeldt, whether things might get better for work permit holders any time soon.

Also in this episode: Russia is waging a hybrid war against European countries including Sweden. But what does that mean, and what does a church near Västerås Airport have to do with it? James interviews expert Patrik Oksanen, fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences and senior advisor at Fores think tank to find out.

You can listen to the special episode here: 

Or follow Sweden in Focus wherever you listen to podcasts. 

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Member comments

  1. The section about Russia seemed to be more of an opinion piece than factual journalism. Patrik provided several speculations about Russia’s strategic intentions but did not provide evidence or sources for his statements. Listening to all sides is only helpful, if evidence is provided and can be fact checked.
    I highly recommend The Local hold an interview with Professor Jeffrey Sachs (Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network) to give listeners a broader and impartial perspective on Russia-Ukraine war and boiling conflict with EU as a whole.

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SWEDEN AND RUSSIA

INTERVIEW: ‘For Russia to be great again, Europe’s democracies must fail’

Russia has been stepping up its hybrid war in Europe. Expert Patrik Oksanen explains to James Savage what Russia is doing in Sweden, and why.

Published: 5 July 2024 14:05 CEST
INTERVIEW: 'For Russia to be great again, Europe's democracies must fail'

Sweden’s relationship with Russia has been frosty since long before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the war and Sweden’s entry into Nato have increased concern about the threat from across the Baltic Sea. And while much of the media focus has been on a future military threat, many experts are also concerned about Russian interference in Sweden here and now.

Sweden’s security service, Säpo, said in February that Russia posed a threat to the country’s territorial integrity, that there was a risk it was engaging in industrial espionage, and that it, along with China, was conducting “security-threatening activities in northernmost Sweden”.

But what might Russia be doing in Sweden in concrete terms – and what might it seek to do in the future?

According to Patrik Oksanen, senior advisor at the Fores think tank and an expert on Russian hybrid threats, Russia exploits vulnerabilities in society.

“For example, when it comes to foreign, malign information, Russia is amplifying messages that are troubling and create tension in society. The more we are in fight among each other, we weaken our democracy.

“And in order for Russia to be great again, Europe’s democracies must fail and [efforts to] keep the EU and Nato together must fail.”

Swedes’ well-documented antipathy towards Putin’s Russia doesn’t inoculate them to Russian propaganda, Oksanen argues. Russian propaganda isn’t all about portraying Russia or Putin in a good light. Indeed, a lot of propaganda isn’t about Russia at all.

“Russian propaganda is much more sinister, much more exploiting our weaknesses, and also looking at actual problems in society and amplifying them, so they are distorting the reality and aggravating people.”

Another way that Russia creates tensions in European societies is to pay criminals to exploit vulnerabilities. An example of this from elsewhere is the case of a Colombian man who was paid by Russia to set fire to buses, unaware that he was dealing with a foreign intelligence agency and believing that he was committing insurance fraud.

“So he was fooled into committing a criminal act, and of course when you have a high crime rate with with individuals ready to to shoot and throw bombs and so on, this is a real vulnerability that we should be very concerned about, that could be exploited by Russia,” Oksanen says.

There’s no evidence yet that Sweden’s gangs have been infiltrated by Russian or other intelligence services, but Oksanen reckons that it’s at least a potential risk.

“From open sources I cannot say that this has happened yet. But it’s definitely a vulnerability.”

***

Article continues below. You can also listen to the interview with Patrik Oksanen here: 

Or follow Sweden in Focus wherever you listen to podcasts. 

***

Another well-documented suspected Russian operation in Sweden has exploited Sweden’s freedom of religion. It concerns a Russian Orthodox church in Västerås, about 100 kilometres from Stockholm. Oksanen lays out the evidence.

The 45 million-kronor cost of construction was financed by Rosatom, the Russian state energy company. A huge sum for a small parish with around 100 members, Oksanen notes. The priest at the time they were building the church was the CEO of a Russian-owned company, and had convictions for money laundering and fraudulent bookkeeping.

“And then when we look at what happened on the political level, in the process, we saw that there were politicians in the local permit board that were involved in the church and supporting it to be built without stating that they had conflicting interests in this process.”

“And then finally, you had the case of the constructor, who had a background as an Estonian criminal with with drug related convictions.”

When Swedish police went to his company’s registered address, they arrested a Russian citizen who was suspected of insurance fraud in cooperation with a former FSB agent.

“So you’re you have these different layers, or what we usually call hybrid threat tools.”

The decision to fund the church would have been taken “up in the highest level of the Russian state,” Oksanen believes.

But why would Russia want to pay for a church in Västerås?

“You must understand that this is a strategic interest,” Oksanen says, adding that the Russian strategy is multi-layered, “like an onion.”

“First of all, it’s a strategic interest to have a good physical, social foothold, to influence the Russian speaking diaspora, with a religious tool.”

“Then you have also the fact that a church has very, very strong protection under Swedish laws. So for example, you are not allowed to eavesdrop on a church, because you don’t want to mess with with the confidentiality between a worshipper and the priest… so that means that you could have a conversation that you know that the Swedish security service are not allowed to listen to. And if they did listen, it would be a huge scandal. So that’s a very safe meeting place.”

The next potential layer of the onion could emerge “in a situation when things are heated up even more than today”.

“We have seen in Ukraine that the Russian Orthodox Church has been used as facility to house platoons of Russian soldiers. They could sleep there, they store food, et cetera, et cetera. So it could also be a foothold in a conflict. And when it lays so very close to the airport, just a couple of minutes walk, and the third longest runway that is in the strategic terms, of course, interesting for Russia.”

“And then there is another factor. When you look at what industries there are in Västerås, you have, for example, Westinghouse that produces fuel for nuclear plants. So you have also that layer in this onion, or Russian matryoshka doll if you would like to use that comparison.”

What’s important when looking at threats from Russia – or indeed other countries like China and Iran – is to see the big picture and not get bogged down in minutiae of individual issues, Oksanen argues.

“We must look at the full spectrum of what Russia is doing and aiming to do, and what they all the tools that they are employing to reach their goals.”

“I think we need to understand the complexity of the threat and I think we tend to not understand this fully.”

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