Swedish intelligence agency sees ‘no foreign election meddling’

Sweden’s domestic intelligence agency said on Monday foreign powers didn’t carry out any comprehensive campaign to influence the country’s parliamentary elections three months ago. SAPO head Klas Friberg said, however, that “foreign power exerts influence on Sweden in the long term,” without identifying any country involved by name. SAPO noted that there had been occurrences of information-gathering about politicians, and technical “incidents against political parties, its representatives and authorities,” Friberg said, adding that “state actors have been noted.” The official said preventive work could explain the lack of foreign meddling, AP reported. Ahead of the September 9 elections, SAPO “had briefed” lawmakers about the risk, security and safety measures.