The Finnish Security Intelligence Service SUPO (formerly the Security Police) agrees with the view of President Tarja Halonen that a terror attack similar to Saturday’s suicide bombing in the Swedish capital Stockholm could happen in Finland.
President Halonen said in St. Petersburg on Monday that such an attack in Finland cannot be ruled out.
The possibility of a terror attack is increased in the view of SUPO chief inspector Tuomas Portaankorva by the fact that Europe has long lived under the threat of terror.
“The President’s assessment goes in the right direction in the sense that because Europe has lived under the threat for a long time, Finland must also accept the idea that an attack is possible”, Portaankorva says. However, he adds that the actual threat against Finland is slight.
Minister for Foreign AffairsAlexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party) sees the attack in Stockholm to be an isolated event.
Stubb said that people in the Nordic Countries have grown accustomed to living in an idyllic situation, but that nobody has a patent remedy for the threat.
Stubb gave his comments in Brussels where he was taking part in a meeting of European Union foreign ministers.
SUPO’s Portaankorva says that the Stockholm attack does not in itself increase the likelihood of a terror attack in Finland. “But it does underscore that an individual attack by a single person is possible anywhere.”
SUPO has not raised its terror alert level after the Stockholm explosion, but it is paying close attention to the case so that Finland might learn from the incident.
SUPO is keeping a few dozen people considered potential supporters of terrorism under scrutiny.
Portaankorva says that they have contacts with groups or people linked with violent activities.
