Snowden Docs: Sweden, US Partner in Surveillance Against Russia

Swedish Spies Provide 'Unique' Info on Russian Leaders

A new report from documents leaked by Edward Snowden shows that the Swedish government cooperated with the NSA in surveillance of Russia, and provided the NSA with “unique” intelligence on “high-priority Russian targets,” including the nation’s political leadership.

Sweden’s National Defense Radio Establishment (FRA), the nation’s top spy agency, is reportedly able to surveil the vast majority of Russia’s Internet traffic, and the nation granted the agency far-reaching surveillance powers at the behest of the US.

As with the NSA, the FRA promises to “filter out” the traffic of its own citizens, and claims to restrict its surveillance to overseas targets. In practice, there is no indication they are actually doing so.

The FRA declined comment, insisting they aren’t allowed to make statements related to foreign collaborations. The NSA only reiterated that they do what “all nations” do.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.