– We feel that there have been more personnel from other countries’ intelligence services to monitor here. That’s what the mayor of Bardu municipality in Troms, Toralf Heimdal, says. The municipality is home to one of Norway’s largest military camps. The Artillery Battalion, the Armored Battalion and the Medical Battalion are based here. The intelligence battalion also has its headquarters here. American naval forces have held regular exercises at Setermoen camp since 2017. – We have seen that activity has picked up since then, says Heimdal. According to the mayor, most of the people from foreign intelligence will come from Eastern Europe and especially Russia. – In addition, the Americans are here to look after their own. Not operating in secret Last week it became known that PST believes a guest researcher associated with UiT Norway’s Arctic University is actually a Russian spy, but has operated in secret. Equipped with a Brazilian passport, he is said to have built up a cover story, and used this to gather information about Norwegian society. A person who operates in this way is called an illegalist, as in the spy series “The Americans”. But according to Heimdal, this is not how the people they have observed proceed. – I think they like to show that they are here, he says. – They do not hide the fact that they are here, and follow along. Communications manager in the Army, Erling Nervik, confirms to news that they have also seen increased activity. – Foreign intelligence is where we are, to look at what we are doing. Over time, we see more observations of behavior that are about gathering information about our activity, he says. – This is based on observations from both civilians and personnel in the Armed Forces. news has tried to get a comment from the Russian embassy in Norway, but has so far been unsuccessful. Communications manager in the Army, Erling Nervik, says they have seen increased activity from intelligence services that Norway is not allied with. – An attack on Norway would be different – It’s not like it is in the movies, that we are the good guys and the others are the bad guys. No one sees themselves as the bad guy in these games. That’s what senior lecturer at the Naval Academy, Ståle Ulriksen, says. He is aware that most intelligence today is about collecting ungraded information. – 80 to 90 per cent of modern intelligence is based on open sources, he says. – Intelligence is the collection, processing and assessment of such information. – So it’s not like in classic spy films, where you hunt for folders marked “Top-Secret”? – Of course there is a bit of that too, but it is only a small part. Ulriksen believes that the goal is to collect enough information to be able to paint a picture of how a system or a city is connected. – That way you can find out who you want to influence or put in situations that you can pressure and control. The university lecturer says that hybrid warfare is largely about finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in a country. – An attack on Norway would have been different from the attack on Ukraine, because we have different vulnerabilities, says Ulriksen. University lecturer at the Naval Academy, Ståle Ulriksen, says that most of today’s intelligence is conducted via open sources. Photo: Pål Hansen / news PST keeps all options open The police security service (PST) confirms to news that they have received several observations in recent months, but will not say whether certain areas stand out. – One reason could be because there has been an increased focus on this in the media, but it could also be because there is actually more activity. It is something we are now working to clarify, says Martin Berntsen in PST. Increased activity from foreign intelligence services is also something PST has expected after the war broke out in Ukraine. PST believes that activity from foreign intelligence services can be several things. – We don’t think it is likely that they are doing mapping to sabotage, but we can’t rule it out either, says Berntsen. – It can also simply be signaling. It’s something they do just to show that they’re here, and don’t have to have any deeper reason. PST also does not rule out Russia doing this to see how PST reacts. Therefore, they do not want to comment on each individual incident in detail. – We keep all possibilities open, says Berntsen.
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The mayor of the defense municipality says they have observed more Russian intelligence – news Troms and Finnmark
