Counter-terrorism

The Security Service has the main responsibility for countering terrorism in Sweden. We work to prevent terrorist attacks in Sweden and against Swedish interests abroad as well as other terrorist crimes.

Due to the potentially very serious consequences of terrorist actions, our focus is on intelligence work and on preventing terrorist crimes from being carried out in the first place. Intelligence gathering and knowledge building are the cornerstones of this work.

Our counter-terrorism efforts must involve government agencies and other stakeholders. Since terrorism is not constrained by local or national boundaries, intelligence work is dependent on cooperation with others, both nationally and internationally.

What is terrorism?

To be convicted of a terrorist offence, it must be proven that a person who committed an act that might seriously damage a state or an international organisation had the intent to:

• seriously intimidate a population or a group thereof,
• unduly compel a government or an international organisation to perform or abstain from performing an act, or
• seriously destabilise or destroy the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or an international organisation.