Sweden

STOCKHOLM, April 17. /TASS/: The Aurora-23 international military exercise - the largest over the past 25 years - began in Sweden on Monday. It will last until May 11, with the United States, Britain, Finland, Poland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Denmark, Austria, Germany and France taking part, the Swedish Defense Ministry said.

The purpose of the exercise is to "improve the combat readiness of the armed forces" in the event of a hypothetical armed attack on Sweden.

STOCKHOLM, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The Swedish government has lowered its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast and declared the country to be in a state of recession in its spring amendment budget presented on Monday.

The Swedish GDP is now expected to shrink by 1 percent this year, which is worse than the previous forecast presented on December 22 last year, which projected a decrease of 0.7 percent in 2023.

07 Apr 2023; MEMO: Sweden's police said Thursday that they had appealed a court ruling which overturned a police decision to stop two demonstrations where protesters planned to burn the Muslim holy book the Quran, reports Anadolu Agency.

"The police authority believes that the principles of the issue are important and it is therefore urgent that it is examined by a higher court," the police said in a statement.

STOCKHOLM, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A Swedish expert rebutted the claim made by U.S. and German media that a non-state actor was responsible for last September's Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions.

On Tuesday, the New York Times has cited new intelligence suggesting that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. However, the paper failed to identify a source for the claim that a rented yacht was used to perpetrate the act.

STOCKHOLM/BERLIN, March 8 (Reuters) - Western allies on Wednesday warned against reaching premature conclusions on who was responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, with Germany suggesting the attack could also have been a "false flag" operation to blame Ukraine.

A New York Times report, citing intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials, said on Tuesday a pro-Ukrainian group may be behind the blasts that became a flashpoint between the West and Russia after last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine.

27 Feb 2023; MEMO: A senior official in the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) confirmed on Sunday that the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and like-minded Kurdish groups receive significant funding in Sweden.

SAPO's deputy head of counter-terrorism, Susanna Trehorning, told a television journalist, "I will not disclose the amount, but I can say that the PKK organisation receives a large amount of funding in our country."

STOCKHOLM, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) has agreed on the 10th package of sanctions against Russia, said the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU on Twitter Friday night.

"The package includes, e.g. tighter export restrictions regarding dual-use goods and technologies," the Swedish Presidency said.

It said the package also includes "targeted restricted measures against individuals and entities" that have supported Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and delivered drones for Russia to be used in the military operation.

STOCKHOLM, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Sweden has discarded nearly 8.5 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19, local media reported on Sunday.

The discarded doses equal to about 20 percent of vaccine doses Sweden has procured, according to Swedish Public Health Agency's statistics, Radio Sweden reported.

Richard Bergstrom, Sweden's former national vaccine coordinator, told Radio Sweden that the total value of the discarded doses was 1.5 billion Swedish kronor (143 million U.S. dollars).

STOCKHOLM, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Sweden has moved into the spotlight for violent Islamic extremists globally after a number of incidents including the recent public burning of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, the security services said on Wednesday.

"Recent developments with threats targeted at Sweden and Swedish interests are serious and affect Sweden's security," the Swedish Security Service SAPO said in a statement.

"The developments mean that Sweden is deemed to be in greater focus than previously for violent Islamic extremists globally."

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Swedish domestic security agency warned Wednesday that the threat of attacks in the Scandinavian country has increased in the weeks since a far-right activist burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

The agency noted that international reactions to the events outside the embassy last month” have been extensive” and “the assessment is that the security situation has deteriorated.”

“Sweden is judged to be in greater focus than before for violent Islamism globally,” the security service, which is known by the Swedish acronym SAPO, said.