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SECURITY

Sweden’s Dreyer named security body police chief

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), a European security body, has named Sweden's Knut Dreyer as the new head of its police unit (SPMU), the organisation announced on Friday.

Published: 30 July 2010 13:43 CEST
Sweden's Dreyer named security body police chief
Then-police chief Dreyer and customs inspector Susanne Lindgren at a bust, 1999

Dreyer, a highly experienced officer who has worked for the European Union and the United Nations, was the OSCE’s police reform adviser in Kyrgyzstan from 2007 to 2008 and also worked with the organisation’s mission in Croatia, according to the Swedish foreign ministry. He will take up his new post on August 30th.

The OSCE is the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organisation. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections. Most of its 3,500-plus staff are engaged in field operations, with only around 10 percent working at its headquarters in Vienna.

The OSCE’s Strategic Police Matters Unit advises member states on effective policing and reforms and conducts training as part of the organisation’s bid to fight organised crime as well as human and drug trafficking.

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SECURITY

Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules

A Swedish ban on Chinese telecoms company Huawei was confirmed in court on Tuesday, citing the country's security as a just reason for banning its equipment in a 5G rollout.

Published: 23 June 2021 07:14 CEST
Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules
Photo: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The administrative court in Stockholm ruled that the decision of the Swedish telecoms authority, PTS, to ban the use of equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in a new Swedish 5G telecom network last October — a move that irked Beijing — was legal.

Equipment already installed must also be removed by January 1st, 2025.

“Sweden’s security is an important reason and the administrative court has considered that it’s only the security police and the military that together have a full picture when it comes to the security situation and threats against Sweden,” judge Ulrika Melin said in a statement.

Huawei denounced the ruling, but did not say whether it would appeal.

“We are of course noting that there has been no evidence of any wrongdoings by Huawei which is being used as basis for this verdict, it is purely based on assumption,” Kenneth Fredriksen, the company’s vice-president for Central, Eastern Europe and the Nordic region, told AFP.

Huawei will now evaluate the decision and the “see what kind of actions we will take to protect our rights,” Fredriksen added.

After the UK in the summer of 2020, Sweden became the second country in Europe and the first in the EU to explicitly ban Huawei from almost all of the network infrastructure needed to run its 5G network.

Beijing had warned that PTS’ decision could have “consequences” for the Scandinavian country’s companies in China, prompting Swedish telecom giant and Huawei competitor Ericsson to worry about retaliation.

“We will continue to be available to have constructive dialogues with Swedish authorities to see if we can find pragmatic ways of taking care of security and at the same time keeping an open and fair market like Sweden has always been,” Fredriksen said.

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