– The intelligence threat has not gone away, but has been reduced, says head of PST’s counter-intelligence Inger Haugland, about 15 people at the Russian embassy being declared undesirable in Norway. The decision was announced on Thursday. According to the Norwegian authorities, these are Russian intelligence officers who have pretended to be diplomats. – Russia uses its consulates and embassies to carry out signals intelligence. We have no reason to believe that they do not do this less in Norway than in other countries, says Haugland. All of the 15 unwanted Russians must leave the country shortly. Exactly how long they have is currently unknown. – As for the fifteen who have been expelled, they are people who are specialists in various fields, says adviser from PST’s counterintelligence, Dag Røhjell. One of them must have had the core task of recruiting sources. – We see that they spend a lot of time establishing and maintaining relationships in Norway. – The Russians have around 40 diplomats in Norway. When 15 are now expelled, it’s a pretty big deal, says researcher on diplomacy at Fritjof Nansen’s institute, Iver Neumann. Counterreactions from the Russian side are expected, and this will probably mean that Norwegian diplomats are thrown out of Russia. – GRU, which is the Russian military intelligence service, has significant activity in Norway. They are mostly concerned with military conditions and Norwegian defence, our military installations and ability to handle crises, as well as our capacity to receive allied support, says Røhjell. The call from PST is that property owners, individuals and businesses in Norway, must be aware of what they have, and take preventive measures. Norway has 22 diplomats in Russia The Norwegian embassy in Moscow tells news that there are now 22 Norwegians with diplomatic status in Russia. Ten of these are sent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and three from the Ministry of Defence. In addition, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education each have an envoy. Six people have practical-technical tasks and are recruited from outside the ministries. – It will take a lot for Russia to respond by throwing out just as many, because there are so few Norwegian diplomats in Moscow, says research professor at the Peace Research Institute PRIO, Pavel K. Baev to news. On Friday, the media will be briefed on the situation by head of PST’s counterintelligence Inger Haugland and advisor from PST’s counterintelligence, Dag Røhjell.
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PST informs about Russians being thrown out – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
