Government security chief wants better intelligence against terrorism

Protection of Finnish ministers upgraded since murder of Swedish foreign minister

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Jukka Sonninen, Head of Security at the Council of State (government) has called for more action by Finland on security surveillance against international terrorism.
      "There are indications that something could also happen in Finland. There is information that people are on the move", Sonninen reveals.
      One of the jobs of security surveillance is to ascertain if suspicious types who are on the move in Finland are just in transit, or if they are interested in doing something in this country.
     
Security surveillance provides an early warning of potential danger. This is important in order to make it possible to profile the threats, and in so doing, to visualise the concrete dangers.
      If there were a concrete threat of terror aimed at Finland, information about it would already have been made public. Sonninen says that more surveillance is needed to prevent the concrete threats from going unnoticed.
      "Otherwise we would just be building walls and trusting that they are in good condition, without noticing that it is possible to walk around the wall somewhere."
      The government’s Preparedness Unit, where Sonninen has held the post of Head of Security since the beginning of August, gets its intelligence information from the Security Police (SUPO). Paavo Selin, the head of the anti-terrorism unit of SUPO, proposed last week that the Security Police should relinquish its role in actual crime investigation, and focus exclusively on intelligence, along the lines of the British MI5.
      Sonninen does not want to take issue with the role of SUPO, but he does agree with Selin that more input is needed into intelligence gathering.
      Sonninen says that Finland has recently woken up to the possibility of terrorism, and that a broad-based follow-up group was set up in the summer to evaluate the threat of international terrorism in Finland and ways to fight it.
      "This is exactly the kind of work that we need. We must think in advance what can threaten us."
     
As the government’s security chief, Sonninen is responsible for the security of government ministers, as well as the office of the Council of State, and that of the Chancellor of Justice.
      Each week the unit that he heads goes through the threats levelled against ministers, and other tip-offs on activities affecting security. Government ministers are protected as required by the threats against them.
      The Prime Minister is guarded as a matter of routine; Sonninen will not go into detail about the arrangements.
      According to Sonninen, harassment of politicians and security risks have increased, but he will not say if there are any active threats right now.
     
Threats against ministers correlate with current political themes. Sonninen says that the more controversial the topics in political debate, the more likely it is that the security of government ministers will need to be upgraded.
      Sonninen says that issues such as EU membership, agricultural policy, nuclear power, and decisions affecting the economy often provoke threats against Finnish leaders.
      Last year’s murder of Sweden’s Foreign Minister Anna Lindh led to an upgrading of measures to protect Finnish government ministers as well.
     
Sonninen prefers to avoid the conspicuous presence of security personnel, saying that such measures tend to undermine the overall sense of security.
      "The feeling that there is security prevents the emergence of fear. Fear sparks terrible actions among people. For that reason, the feeling and perception of safety improves security", Sonninen explains.
      In his job Sonninen learns about threats and security risks that most ordinary citizens never know of. With that in mind, does he feel safe in Finland?
      "Yes", he says without a hint of hesitation. 


Links:
  Government Preparedness Unit

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