KEY POINTS
- Sweden has raised its terror threat to level four on its five-point scale.
- Australia has upgraded its travel advice, warning travellers to "exercise a high degree of caution" in Sweden.
- Sweden's increased terror concerns come in the wake of a number of Quran burnings by anti-Islam activists.
Terrorism fears have sparked a new warning for Australians travelling to Sweden, where there are concerns the country is a "prioritised target".
On Friday, the federal government's travel advisory website, Smartraveller, upgraded its advice for Sweden, urging travellers to "exercise a high degree of caution". The Nordic country on Thursday raised its terror alert level from "elevated" to "high" — the second-highest level on its five-point scale.
Smartraveller uses four advice levels to advise on travel risk, ranging from "exercise normal safety precautions" to "do not travel". Sweden has increased to level two — the same rating that has applied to the United Kingdom since June last year when it too .
Sweden's increased concerns come in the wake of a number of Quran by anti-Islam activists both there and in neighbouring Denmark.
The two countries are among the most liberal in the world and allow trenchant criticism of religion in the name of free speech.
But many Muslims view desecrating the Quran, which they see as the literal word of God, as a grave offence. A media outlet linked to militant group al-Qaeda has urged violent retribution.
Charlotte von Essen, the head of Sweden's SAPO security service, told a press conference on Thursday the country had gone from being a "legitimate target for terrorist attacks to being considered a prioritised target" and that the upgraded threat level would "remain for a long time".
"The decision to raise the level is not prompted by a single event but we know that Hezbollah, al-Shabaab and al-Qaeda have called on their supporters to carry out acts against Sweden," von Essen said.
Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a press conference that people had been arrested in Sweden and abroad after planned attacks were detected and stopped, although he did not give details of the plots.
Kristersson said Quran burnings and the shooting of a Turkish staff member at Sweden's honorary consulate in İzmir, Türkiye, had contributed to the decision to raise the terror threat level.
The Swedish government is looking at whether its laws on maintaining public order could be modified, but it has ruled out making it illegal to burn holy scriptures.
The Quran burnings have drawn widespread condemnation from many . Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged severe punishment for those responsible and said Sweden was in battle mode against the Muslim world.
They have also "contributed to the image of Sweden as a country hostile to Muslims," Ahn-Za Hagström, the head of the National Centre for Terrorist Threat Assessment, told a press conference.
Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Quran burnings and the shooting of a Turkish staff member at Sweden's honorary consulate in Izmir, Türkiye, had contributed to the decision to raise the terror threat level. Source: AAP, EPA / Henrik Montgomery
Around the time of his protests, a far-right activist group called the Danish Patriots mounted its own anti-Muslim demonstrations in neighbouring Denmark, saying it was taking a stand against what it sees as the "Islamisation" of Nordic societies.
Danish-Swedish far-right activist , who has been behind sporadic Quran burnings since 2017, has carried out more in both countries this year, saying he is angered by Türkiye's opposition to Sweden's application to join NATO.
Denmark's PET intelligence service said on Thursday that the Quran burnings heightened the threat of an attack on home soil, but it would not be raising the terror alert level from four on its scale of 1-5.
