Following the incidents, Sweden has begun to act more significantly to thwart espionage operations in the country, which has been apparently unprecedented.

In an interview with the Swedish press, the head of the country's espionage division noted that hundreds of collection officers are operating in Sweden, employing about a thousand agents in the country. In recent months, a number of espionage cases have been published in the country, in which workers and officers in the country's security and intelligence services have been exposed as those who acted as agents for other countries. The identities of the countries were not revealed.

Following the incidents, Sweden has begun to take more significant steps to thwart espionage operations in the country, which has apparently been unprecedented. In Sweden, many hundreds of collection officers operate according to Swedish preventive intelligence estimates.

Some operate under the guise of local embassies, and some come to Sweden as a base of activity, under business coverage and sometimes as representatives of business companies. These operate in Sweden for a short time, and at the end of their activities return to their home countries.

According to the Swedish Spy Prevention Unit, the various agents in Sweden employ many hundreds of agents, who work for the collection officers. These are sometimes foreign agents and sometimes they are Swedish citizens.

The agents are supposed to collect for the collection officers intimate intelligence, targeted according to the IDF (bundle of vital information) and pass it on secretly to the collection officers, including during the secret meetings they hold on Swedish soil.

Sweden has in recent decades (since the Cold War) been a convenient base for espionage activity, while Swedish governments and law enforcement agencies have not tried to thwart espionage activity done in the country, perhaps intentionally to maintain its 'neutral character'. In addition, Sweden's geographical location, between NATO countries and the Russian bloc countries, is a convenient location for activating their sources and conducting operational intelligence activities for all parties.

After many announcements of the Swedish espionage service it will now be interesting to see how Sweden will apply laws and restrictions on espionage operations in its territory, and how it will implement active and passive mechanisms of espionage in its territory.

It will be difficult to see, especially Russia, withdrawing from the territory of Sweden and ceasing to carry out espionage activities there.

Image: Reuters