Swedish Police Arrest Russia Spy Suspect

A technology worker suspected of spying for Russia has been arrested in Stockholm, the Swedish authorities said Wednesday.

The person was believed to have been “recruited as an agent by a Russian intelligence officer posing as a diplomat in Sweden”, head of counter intelligence at Sweden’s security service Daniel Stenling said.

The suspect works in “high-tech” and has access to “information likely to be of interest to foreign intelligence agencies”, the public prosecutor’s office and Sweden’s security service said in a statement.

Police also arrested a second person during the operation on Tuesday, who was later released after claiming diplomatic immunity, Swedish daily Expressen said.

The authorities warned of the “high threat posed by foreign spies” in a note last July.

“Russia poses the biggest intelligence threat to Sweden,” Stenling said at the time.

Stockholm is particularly worried about attempts to influence elections and public debate, for example through disinformation on social media.

“Threats to Sweden have increased in the past few years,” Stenling said with cyber attacks adding to traditional intelligence work such as recruiting agents.