Carl Bildt's Intelligence Proposal Criticized: "Must Exercise Caution"

Carl Bildt's proposal for a new intelligence agency is criticized by defense commentator Johan Wiktorin, against the backdrop of the sensitive global situation.

In June, government investigator Carl Bildt submitted a proposal for a civil intelligence service directly under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This was because the investigation found that the current setup, where the defense and government receive intelligence from Säpo and Must, is not functioning adequately.

However, building a new agency while government representatives warn of potential war could jeopardize Swedish security, according to Johan Wiktorin, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences.

He argues that the investigators have not understood the country's information needs and that it was a mistake to highlight the UK as a model for the proposal.

Should Have Looked to Ukraine

Instead, they should have looked to the country now fighting a heroic defense war, according to Wiktorin.

"Had they done so, they would have found that there, too, the equivalent of the British intelligence service SIS and the American CIA is organized under Ukraine's Ministry of Defense – just like in Sweden," he writes in DN Debatt and continues:

"Ukraine went to war and copied the Swedish solution that the investigation now wants to discard."

The defense commentator also argues that the investigation falls short when it comes to cyber defense – a concept mentioned only twice in the report.