Sweden lowers terror alert level

Sweden is lowering its five-stage terror alert level from 4 to 3 after nearly two years as the Scandinavian country perceives itself as less threatened by extremists, the Swedish intelligence service Säpo announced on Friday.

This means that the EU and NATO country is now considered to be under an elevated rather than a high terrorist threat.

"The overall assessment is that the threat of attacks from extremists that endorse violence is not as high as before," said Säpo chief Charlotte von Essen.

She explained that the propaganda portraying Sweden as an anti-Islam country has diminished over time.

At the same time, the agency emphasized that Sweden remains in a serious security situation and that the situation could further deteriorate. Foreign powers continue to conduct extensive activities that endanger Sweden's security, it said. However, these activities are not primarily linked to the terrorist threat level.

Säpo had raised the terror alert level to the second-highest level in the summer of 2023.

At that time, there were repeated incidents of desecrations of the Islamic holy book the Koran in the country. In response, the Islamist terrorist network al-Qaeda called for attacks on Sweden and neighbouring Denmark.

According to the intelligence service's assessment at the time, Sweden became a primary target for terrorist attacks.