The Security Police of Finland (Supo) considers Russia to remain the most serious threat to the country's national security, as reported by Yle.
According to the security police, the threat of Russian espionage and influence attempts remains high, although the operational capabilities of Russian intelligence services have weakened.
The Finnish agency also believes that the country's entry into NATO has had a positive impact on the situation.
Moreover, the Acting Head of Supo, Teemu Turunen, does not rule out the possibility that various pressure measures may be directed against individual Finnish citizens in Russia in the future, including accusations of espionage or asset confiscation.
"In the arsenal of authoritarian regimes, there is ruthless 'hostage diplomacy' aimed at exchanging prisoners," Turunen noted.
He also believes that Russia may attempt to influence decision-making in Finland.
At the same time, according to SUPO's assessment, the local Russian-speaking population does not pose a significant threat to Finland's security.
"These individuals do not form a unified community or organize into any influential movement in Finland, as we believe. They have very diverse interests regarding Russia. Some undoubtedly support Russia's policies, but probably the majority do not support them - hence, for various reasons, they have left Russia," the researcher shared his observations.
According to the security police's assessments, the risk that Finnish Russians will have any significant impact on Finnish society is quite low.
SUPO also added that the threat of terrorism in Finland has not increased. The most likely threat of a terrorist attack, as before, comes from individuals or small groups supporting extreme right-wing or radical Islamist ideology.
The Security Police have already identified individual extremists who traveled from Finland to conflict zones in Ukraine. Some of them have already returned home.
