Sweden warns of space war with China, Russia through attack on navigation satellites
The head of the Security Police (Sapo), Charlotte von Essen, has warned that with space as a new arena, “foreign powers” have also been given new opportunities. According to her, the two nations that have been pointed out as the biggest intelligence threats against Sweden, and which are also appointed to have high ambitions for their space activities. Sapo said that these nations are China and Russia.
According to the Sputnik report, Sapo said that a conflict in space can begin with disruptions of socially important functions through an attack on an important space system, such as navigation satellites. According to the authority, Sweden remains in a strategic place for those who seek communication with their satellite and retrieve data.
The media quoted von Essen as saying: “For China and Russia, space is important from both a military and civilian perspective. The countries are also very interested in acquiring knowledge about Swedish research that contributes to the development of space. More with activities that can be linked to space need to raise awareness of this. “
According to her, the development regarding China and Russia affects both the intelligence assessment and the security situation in Sweden either directly or indirectly, Sputnik further quoted the Sapo chief who said: “Seeing space from a total defense perspective is therefore necessary and both preparedness and knowledge. need to increase. Cooperation is needed to create understanding and resilience. ”
Earlier, during the same conference on Wednesday, Sweden’s Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvist claimed that Russia “questioned and threatened” the entire European security system. Hultqvist called Russia’s military build – up near the border with Ukraine a “military escalation with Ukraine” and quoted Moscow’s latest security proposal to the West, saying Russia “challenges international law when it questions other countries’ right to self-determination”.
Hultqvist said that Sweden has no military threats other than Russia
It is to be noted that Hultqvist has previously already claimed that Sweden has no military threats against it except Russia, even though the last war fought between the two countries ended in 1809, Sputnik stated. The Swedish Minister of Defense said that the European nation will need to cooperate more with NATO. He also called the alliance the Nordic nation’s most important security policy platform alongside the European Union (EU).