HELSINKI, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The Swedish government is moving ahead with plans to establish a new foreign intelligence agency as part of reforms to the country's intelligence system, according to a government statement published on Tuesday.
The agency, to be named Sweden's Foreign Intelligence Service, or UND from the Swedish name Sveriges utrikes underrattelsetjanst, is expected to be in place on Jan. 1, 2027.
The government said the deteriorated security situation, the broad and complex threat picture, rapid technological development and Sweden's NATO membership require a strengthened Swedish intelligence system.
"It is important that we now develop new capabilities within the intelligence system as the threat picture changes, and the new agency will be central to this work," Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in the statement.
"Sweden is in a serious security policy situation. The government is now doing what is required to ensure that Sweden has the intelligence capability it needs," she said.
According to the government, the new agency will help create stronger, more specialized and better coordinated Swedish intelligence operations.
Sweden already has the Military Intelligence and Security Service, or MUST, which handles military intelligence, while the Swedish Security Service, SAPO, focuses mainly on domestic threats. The National Defense Radio Establishment, FRA, is responsible for signals intelligence.
The new agency is expected to take over some responsibilities currently handled by military intelligence and work closely with the Swedish Armed Forces, SAPO and FRA.
Swedish Television (SVT) reported that the plan has drawn criticism from the Swedish Armed Forces, which warned that the timetable was too tight and that reorganizing the intelligence system could disrupt ongoing intelligence gathering and create coordination risks.
Stenergard said the reform would create a clearer division of duties and responsibilities and enable Sweden to better cover the overall threat picture. ■
