STOCKHOLM: Sweden鈥檚 intelligence service said Friday it was lowering its terror alert level from 鈥渉igh threat鈥� to 鈥渆levated threat,鈥� saying the risk of an attack had subsided.
The Swedish Security Service (Sapo) raised the level in August 2023 to 鈥渉igh threat鈥� 鈥� the fourth level on a scale of five 鈥� after angry reactions to a series of protests involving desecrations of the Qur'an made the country a 鈥減rioritized target.鈥�
鈥淧ropaganda against Sweden has subsided and Sweden is not specifically mentioned as a target,鈥� Fredrik Hallstrom, head of operations at the Swedish Security Service, told a press conference.
鈥淲e do not see the same intense flow of attack threats directed at Sweden,鈥� he added.
Sapo said it now considered the terror alert level to be at 鈥渆levated threat鈥� 鈥� the third level on its five-point scale.
Hallstrom cautioned that with 鈥渁n elevated threat, there is room for a terrorist attack to occur.鈥�
A series of Qur'an burnings across the country 鈥� most notably by Iraqi Christian Salwan Momika 鈥� in the summer of 2023 sparked outrage in the Muslim world.
It strained relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries, and Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July 2023, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.
Momika ended up facing charges of inciting ethnic hatred, but in January of this year he was fatally shot in an apartment just hours before the court was due to deliver its ruling.
His co-protester Salwan Najem, also of Iraqi origin, was ultimately found guilty of inciting ethnic hatred during four Qur'an burnings in 2023.
Despite the lowered threat level, Charlotte von Essen, head of Sapo, stressed that 鈥淪weden is in a serious security situation.鈥�
鈥淭he worst in many years,鈥� von Essen told reporters.
The Sapo chief pointed to the fact that the war in Ukraine was still ongoing.
鈥淔oreign powers 鈥� and Russia in particular 鈥� are carrying out extensive security-threatening activities in and against Sweden,鈥� she said.