Sweden warns of space wars with China, Russia through attack on navigation satellites

Swedish Security Police (Sapo) chief Charlotte von Essen has warned that with space as a new arena, “foreign powers” have also gotten new opportunities. According to her, the two nations which have been singled out as the biggest intelligence threats to Sweden, and are also named as having high ambitions for their space activities. Sapo said these nations are China and Russia. 

As per the Sputnik report, Sapo said that a conflict in space can start with the disruption of socially important functions through an attack on an important space system, such as navigation satellites. According to the authority, for those who are seeking communication with their satellite and retrieve data, Sweden remains in a strategic location.

The media outlet 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 people with activities that can be connected to space need to create increased 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 Sapo chief as saying, “Seeing space from a total defence perspective is therefore necessary and both preparedness and knowledge need to increase. Collaboration is required to create understanding and resilience.”

Earlier, during the same conference on Wednesday, Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist claimed Russia was “questioning and threatening” the entire security system of Europe. Terming Russia’s military-buildup near its border with Ukraine as “military escalation with Ukraine” and citing Moscow’s recent security proposals to the West, Hultqvist said that Russia’s “challenges international law when it questions other countries' right to self-determination”.

Hultqvist said Sweden has no military threats other than Russia

It is to note that Hultqvist has previously already claimed that Sweden has no military threats against it except Russia even though the last war fought between both countries ended in 1809, stated Sputnik. The Swedish Defence Minister said that the European nation will need to cooperate more with NATO. He also termed the alliance as the Nordic nation’s most important security policy platform alongside the European Union (EU).

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