
The Swedish Armed Forces issued a statement this week warning about the threat of hybrid warfare, stating Russia, China and Iran were conducting intelligence operations against Sweden and the nation’s political, military and civil authorities must be prepared for indirect and direct threats.
On Sunday, Sweden’s Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, said that while Sweden was not at war, there was no peace either and the country and its neighbors are exposed to hybrid attacks.
The Swedish Armed Forces statement, titled “Hybrid operations harm Sweden,” quoted Swedish Chief of Defense Force Gen. Leif Michael Claesson.
“Hybrid warfare is not a kinder, gentler form of war. It aims to harm or weaken us and our society – and NATO – through actions that are deniable and harder to trace and respond to,” he said according to a translation of the statement.
“This can be done through actions that sabotage and destroy important societal functions, make decision-making more difficult, or damage confidence in the national authorities and leadership.”
The statement also said that “Russia, China and Iran are conducting intelligence operations against Sweden. The goal is to disrupt important societal systems, gain access to sensitive information and influence decision-making. The methods include cyberattacks, influence operations and sabotage.” It also stated that Sweden had been subjected to influence information campaigns and cyberattacks.
A key goal for Russia, according to the statement, is to undermine Western unity “by spreading disinformation and intensifying internal conflicts, it seeks to influence public opinion and create division.” The statement said such influence campaigns are spread via social media and other digital channels, often through fake accounts and AI-generated materials.
Sweden’s entry into NATO strengthens the country’s security through shared resources and cooperation while, however, Russia remains a serious threat, according to the statement. The war in Ukraine is part of a larger conflict over Europe’s security order, it read.
While the statement did not detail specifics of Chinese and Iranian hybrid warfare operations in Sweden, Prime Minister Kristersson said, “We also live in the era of proxy wars. Iran uses gang criminals with violent capital to commit serious crimes in Sweden through proxies.” He went on to say that Russia and Belarus are instrumentalizing migrants to influence Finland and Poland and that Russia also tried to undermine the democratic elections in Moldova with bought votes. “They are infiltrating Georgia and recently made a shocking attempt in the EU country Romania. If this succeeds, it will redraw the map of Europe – again,” warned Kristersson, who also said he and his government took such actions seriously.
Kristersson also pointed out the sabotage of underwater cables in the Baltic Sea, and said he and the heads of states and governments of Baltic Sea nations were taking such activities seriously and not making frivolous accusations. He also said Sweden respected the law of the sea and as such “could not, in international waters, and against the will of the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3, board and criminally investigate the corresponding damage to Swedish cables. Such are the rules.”
Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 was suspected of cutting two undersea fiber-optic cables in the Baltic Sea in mid-November. On Dec.19, China allowed representatives from Germany, Sweden, Finland and Denmark to board the Yi Peng 3, along with Chinese investigators, while the ship was anchored in a Danish shipping lane. A Swedish prosecutor leading a European investigation, however, was not allowed to board the ship. The Chinese ship subsequently departed to Port Said, Egypt.
Kristersson stressed that Sweden does not jump to conclusions or accuse anyone of sabotage without strong reasons. “But we are not naive either. The security situation and the fact that strange things happen time and time again in the Baltic Sea also lead us to believe that hostile intent cannot be ruled out. There is little evidence that a ship would accidentally and without noticing it, drag an anchor with 300 meters of chain for over one hundred kilometers, without understanding that it could cause damage,” said the Swedish Prime Minister. He added that Sweden and its neighbors would not accept such actions continuing.
Sweden announced on Sunday, prior to NATO’s Tuesday’s announcement of Operation Baltic Sentry, that it would contribute to the operation with a deployment of three warships and an air and maritime surveillance capability in the form of a Swedish Air Force Saab 340 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C). The announcement noted that this is the first time Sweden as a member state is contributing an armed force to NATO’s deterrence and defence. Sweden also announced on Jan. 3 that, following a request by Finland, it was sending submarine rescue ship HSwMS Belos (A214) to support the investigations of undersea cables sabotaged in the Baltic Sea.
On Wednesday, Kristersson and former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg held a press conference to announce that Stotenberg had been commissioned by the Nordic and Baltic countries (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden) to produce an independent report with policy recommendations aimed at promoting Nordic-Baltic security and defense cooperation. “With the Nordic-Baltic region now fully integrated in NATO, we have an opportunity to advance our collaboration even further. Fully harnessing the new Nordic-Baltic potential for enhanced regional cooperation strengthens both the region and NATO as a whole,” said Kristersson.
A joint statement on report’s commissioning, which is to be presented before the NATO summit in the Hague in June 2025, stated that its suggestions should contribute to increasing the threshold against an armed attack, strengthen deterrence and defense, counter Russian sabotage and other hybrid acts and operations, as well as increasing societal resilience, regional cooperation, and concrete operational capability. “We look forward to receiving his independent policy recommendations on issues such as enhancing Nordic-Baltic security and defense cooperation, strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defense in the region and taking further the region’s strong support for Ukraine,” read the statement.