Sweden Establishing a Separate Foreign Intelligence Agency

The government of Sweden has decided to create a new civilian intelligence agency, the Foreign Intelligence Agency (Myndigheten för utrikes underrättelser). The new agency is scheduled to begin working on January 1, 2027.

It will take over some of the functions of the Military Intelligence and Security Service (Militära underrättelse- och säkerhetstjänsten, MUST), a unit within the Swedish Armed Forces, particularly in the field of foreign intelligence. In this way, the government seeks to clearly decouple the military and foreign policy intelligence activities.

The agency will cooperate with the Swedish Security Service (Säkerhetspolisen, Säpo), the Electronic Intelligence Center (Försvarets radioanstalt, FRA), and the Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten).

MUST Director T. Nilsson has supported the initiative. According to him, military intelligence is currently overloaded, primarily due to monitoring russia, supporting Ukraine, the situation in the Arctic, and adapting to Sweden’s NATO membership. At the same time, he believes that China’s foreign policy, instability in Africa, conflicts in the Middle East, and the transformation of US security strategy require increasing attention.

The creation of a separate foreign intelligence agency signals Sweden’s transition to a more institutionally differentiated security model amid a broadening range of global threats. The decision is aimed at reducing the burden on military intelligence and improving the quality of strategic analysis.