Hanne Blomberg, head of counter-intelligence in the Police Security Service (PST), informs Dagbladet that the intelligence threat against Norway is extensive and persistent. Several nations have placed many intelligence agents in Norway. Some of the agents are here in hiding from being diplomats, with diplomatic immunity, according to PST.
Should they be exposed, they will be declared unwanted in Norway, but will avoid imprisonment.
– Foreign countries’ e-services try to recruit Norwegian citizens as spies, says Blomberg.
– Norway is an interesting country for other nations. We see this in the activity of foreign countries’ intelligence organizations in Norway, and against Norwegians abroad, says Blomberg.
Damaging
– PST’s task is to prevent and deter threats against Norway as a nation. Today, the reality is that several countries are very active, and are gathering intelligence in Norway. The respective intelligence organizations use all the tools they have available. We still experience that foreign countries’ e-services are trying to recruit human resources in Norway, says Blomberg.
At the same time, she confirms that foreign intelligence services also use other methods than the classic spy recruitment to obtain intelligence.
– Cyber and computer attacks on Norwegian authorities, private companies and individuals are also staged by foreign intelligence services. We have many examples of this.
– Which countries carry out the most intelligence activities in Norway?
– PST’s focus is on countries we are not allied with, because these constitute the greatest potential for damage.
– Who is most active?
– Russia, China and Iran, says Blomberg.
She does not want to name other countries, but confirms that PST is aware that it is other nations than the three – Russia, China and Iran – that are trying to obtain classified information in Norway. Information that can harm both the nation of Norway, companies and companies that are exposed to, among other things, the theft of technology.
Recruit agents
PST does not want to disclose the number of attempts to recruit Norwegians as agents they have uncovered in recent years.
– I can confirm that a number of nations and foreign state actors are active in Norway, and try to obtain intelligence. Foreign countries’ e-services can cause us great damage, says Blomberg.
Aftenposten revealed earlier this year that three to four employees at the Russian Embassy in Oslo were actually affiliated with the military intelligence organization GRU (Glavnoje Razvedyvatelnoje Upravlenije), and not the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Blomberg does not want to comment on what PST knows about Russian intelligence agents in Norway, but says:
– There are far more than three to four people at the Russian embassy who are in Norway to conduct intelligence, she believes.
Great activity
– Foreign countries have always been active in Norway, and it is still their intelligence organizations. In Norway, we are unfortunately a little naive. Many do not believe that they can have information that could be interesting for other countries, and do not understand that they can be exploited, says Blomberg.
– What are the foreign intelligence organizations looking for?
– Everything can be of interest to other countries. It could be security policy. As a NATO member, Norway has its own border with Russia. Everything covered by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is interesting and important for countries that are not members of the alliance.
– Intelligence organizations are interested in political decisions, research, business, technology development. There can be various reasons for the interest in information. Some do not have the resources or capital to develop technology themselves, says the head of counter-intelligence.
Repel
– A few weeks ago, a Norwegian citizen was arrested and charged with spying for Russia. Is there reason to believe that Norwegians have been recruited?
– To the very highest degree. We believe more have been recruited. I can also confirm that we are familiar with many attempts to recruit Norwegians, which we have averted, says Blomberg.
She does not want to go into detail, but still confirms that PST every single year averts recruitment attempts from foreign intelligence.
– Does PST have reason to believe that it is Norwegians who have been recruited by foreign nations?
– The arrest of a Norwegian citizen a few weeks ago is not a unique case. In most cases, we prevent it from going that far. It is not unusual for us to make direct contact and prevent recruitment attempts from being carried out, says Blomberg.
She also points out that in recent years there has been a development where foreign intelligence organizations commit murders in Europe, to clear people out of the way. Blomberg emphasizes that murders committed by foreign countries’ intelligence services have not been detected in Norway.
Larger room for maneuver
This summer, a Norwegian citizen – Mohammad Davoudzadeh LoLoei (40) – with an Iranian background was sentenced to seven years in prison in Denmark.
The former chairman of the Norwegian-Iranian Friendship Association was convicted of spying in Denmark for an Iranian intelligence service. The court found him guilty of aiding and abetting the planning of a murder in the Danish town of Ringsted.
It was the leader of the Iranian separatist movement ASMLA (Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz) who was to be killed.
– There are examples of foreign intelligence organizations committing murder. One of the reasons may be that the international political situation is more uncertain, says Blomberg.
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– We are now seeing that Western intelligence organizations do not allow themselves more room for maneuver from their clients – the country’s political authorities – than before, Blomberg says.
Cheated in traps
The head of counter-intelligence will not say anything about the methods PST uses to expose foreign intelligence activities in Norway.
It is no secret that intelligence agencies have also used so-called “honey traps”, where female agents have seduced men to obtain information.
Blomberg confirms to Dagbladet that Norwegian citizens, every single year, are tried to be tricked into traps abroad.
– It happens in different ways. There are several examples every single year of Norwegians abroad – on holiday or on business trips being tried for recruitment by a foreign power’s intelligence service. Some may unjustifiably end up in a conflict, and be accused of something they have not done. Then a representative of the country’s intelligence service may appear, and say that the person in question can help, but in return, says Blomberg.
Threaten families
PST also confirms that Norwegian citizens with connections or origins in other countries have been exposed and threatened by intelligence organizations.
– We have several examples of Norwegian citizens with families in other countries being threatened with reprisals, if they do not do what they are asked, Blomberg says.
Some of those who are threatened, tricked into traps, or tried the pressure themselves contact PST directly, and tell what they have been exposed to. Others are contacted by PST, who has discovered the relationship.
– PST is there to help Norwegian citizens. Those who are exposed to threats, or attempted recruitment, should contact us immediately, says Hanne Blomberg, head of the counter-intelligence section in the Police Security Service.
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