'Putin never stopped spying': ex-KGB officer warns of 'very serious mistake'
Created: 08/29/2022, 13:15
By: Markus Hofstetter
Espionage didn't seem to be a big issue after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Brussels shows that this is not true.
The Belgian capital into a hotbed of agent activity.
Brussels - According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany is currently the focus of spies and saboteurs, also because of the Ukraine war.
According to German security authorities, around 200 operating spies from Russia are known, but experts assume a significantly higher number.
Their sights are also said to be on weapon training for Ukrainian soldiers in Germany.
Brussels is also a fertile environment for spies.
The NATO headquarters and the EU Commission are located in the Belgian capital.
There are also other EU institutions such as the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Defense Agency, as well as a large number of embassies and consulates.
As a former secret service agent, Russian President Vladimir Putin knows how to take advantage of this.
Spy capital Brussels: Russia has never stopped spying
For Russia's secret services, Belgium is therefore second only to the United States in the list of interesting targets.
That says the former KGB officer Sergueï Jirnov, who lives in Paris, to
Tagesschau.de
.
Many believed that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Cold War was over and Russia was no longer a threat.
"It was a very serious mistake because Russia never stopped spying on the West."
Vladimir Putin speaking at the Moscow headquarters of the Russian foreign intelligence agency SVR (December 20, 2020) © Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin Pool/imago
The numerous presence of spies in Brussels confirmed Pascal Petry from the Belgian state security in the Belgian broadcaster RTBF: "In Brussels there are probably several hundred spies.
An obviously strong presence from China and Russia and their counterparts from the rest of the world, some more discreet than others.”
Spy capital Brussels: EU building already bugged during construction
According to a 2019 report by Die
Welt
, 250 Chinese and 200 Russian agents are said to be based in Brussels.
The newspaper refers to the security service of the European External Action Service (EEAS).
Spies are caught sometimes too.
In October last year, for example, NATO revoked the accreditation of eight Russian diplomats with the defense alliance.
The members of the Russian mission to NATO are said to be intelligence officials.
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The methods used in espionage range from cyber surveillance to classic agent activities such as bugging buildings and recruiting sources.
A routine investigation in 2003 revealed that the EU delegation offices of Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Austria were being overheard.
The bugs were cast in concrete, so it can be assumed that they were used during the construction of the building, which opened in 1995.
By whom is unclear.
It is speculated, among other things, that even the friendly USA could be responsible for this.
Spy capital Brussels: Spies are not only found in films
In Brussels, spies approach not only diplomats but also civil servants, business people and scientists in order to gain them as sources.
Belgian state security officer Petry advises everyone who works on sensitive issues, whether in NATO, the EU or other organizations such as banks, not to read work documents on the train or make important phone calls on the platform.
"Precautions should be taken because they're not just in the movies - the spies are there," says Petry.
