With a war looming and an application to the military alliance NATO, Sweden is facing new challenges. Electricity companies and authorities are forced to think about what must now be kept secret from, above all, Russia. At the same time, more and more of our state budget is spent on things related to the Armed Forces.
Those who are supposed to scrutinize power need to have extra control over where the line is drawn between what is secret – to protect the country – and what can be questioned and told.
Senior spy chief on trial for treason
That limit of what should be classified as a state secret is currently being tested in our neighboring countries. In Denmark, we meet the former Minister of Defense Claus Hjort Frederiksen, who is now indicted for treason for having confirmed intelligence cooperation with the United States. Even the country’s former top head of the military intelligence service, FE, stands accused of having revealed state secrets to journalists.
And in Finland, two journalists at the daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat have been convicted of the same crime after writing an article about the equivalent of the Defense Radio Agency, FRA.
Here in Sweden, we have now in a short time received several new laws that limit both the freedom of the press and the possibility for sources to inform journalists about irregularities. So where is the line between what can be talked about and what must be kept secret? Between openness and national security.
Cast: Antero Mukkaeditor-in-chief of the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat in Finland, Juuka RappeDeputy Attorney General of Finland, Claus Hjort Frederiksenformer Minister of Defense for the Liberal Party in Denmark, Hans Davidsen-Nielsenwriter and journalist at the newspaper Politiken in Denmark, Kim Hakkarainensecurity expert, Mikael Routsilecturer in constitutional law at Uppsala University, Jörgen Berglundmoderate parliamentary politician in the defense committee, Ulf Holmenvironmentalist in the defense committee, Hanna Gunnarssonleftist in the defense committee.
Host: Lotten Collin
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Producer: Ulrika Bergqvist
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Reporter: Fernando Arias
Technician: Adam Alvin
Source: ICELAND NEWS