Swedish civil servants to be trained in detecting extremism

A total of 1,700 civil servants working for the City of Stockholm will be offered a course aimed at increasing awareness of violent extremism.

Swedish TV reported on Saturday that the purpose is to increase civil servants' competence in spotting and counteracting violent extremism.

"We absolutely need to update and develop knowledge on this subject," said Christina Kiernan, the coordinator against violent extremism at the City of Stockholm. "We have had some courses and lectures in the past, but not on this scale," she added.

The course was initially supposed to be offered to 3,000 people but, according to Kiernan, there are now just 2,400 spots available and over 1,700 people have signed up for the course.

The course is aimed at civil servants, managers and decision makers within the Stockholm municipality. In total, eight lectures will be held during the fall.

According to Kiernan, participants will learn the basic structures of extremist environments and how radicalization and recruitment processes work. They will also learn about concrete cases in Sweden.

Asked if three hours are enough, Kiernan said it depends what one's job involves. "The plan is to continue and deepen the training next year for those who come in direct contact with the problem (of violent extremism)," she said.