Germany ‘erroneously’ granted entry visa to known Russian intelligence officer
October 10, 2022 1 Comment
LAST SUMMER, GERMAN EMBASSY staff in Russia issued an entry visa to a Russian national, despite warnings by at least two European security agencies that he was a known intelligence officer, according to a report. The incident has fueled persistent allegations that Berlin’s counterintelligence posture against Russia is ineffective.
According to the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, it was in July of this year when the German Embassy in Moscow received an application for an entry visa to Germany by a Russian national. The application included an official invitation issued to the visa applicant by the Russian Consulate General in the eastern German city of Leipzig. However, the application prompted a strong counterintelligence warning by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic security agency. According to Spiegel, at least one more European intelligence agency warned against allowing the Russian national to travel to Western Europe. The reason for the warnings was that the visa applicant was known to operate internationally under diplomatic cover, on behalf of a Russian intelligence agency.
The counterintelligence warnings were examined and caused the visa application to be rejected. However, a month later the applicant submitted a second application for an entry visa to Germany. Remarkably, the German embassy approved the second application, after “no longer recogni[zing] any suspicion of espionage” in association with this case. One possible reason, according to Spiegel, was that Russian officials had applied pressure on the German government, asking for a review of the application. When the issue was raised in Berlin, an internal review was launched. It reportedly found that the espionage warnings had been “overlooked due to an [administrative] error”. The visa was thus promptly canceled. Der Spiegel claims it is “possible that the accidental visa issue was related to [Berlin] wanting to show good will to the Russian side”.
What does that mean? Back in April, Germany expelled 40 suspected Russian intelligence officers, in response to Russian war crimes in Ukraine. As expected, Russia promptly expelled an equal number of German diplomats in a tit-for-tat move. The Russian Foreign Ministry made sure to point out that it would respond in a similar fashion, should Berlin choose to expel more Russian diplomats in the future. Such an eventuality, according to Spiegel, would run the risk of decimating Germany’s diplomatic presence in Russia, given that its size is considerably smaller than that of Russia’s in Germany. Germany, in other words, is not prepared to risk a complete breakdown in its diplomatic relations with Russia.
Some claim, however, that the current arrangement between the two countries is being exploited by the Kremlin. Der Spiegel notes that, according to intelligence experts, no European country hosts more Russian intelligence officers under diplomatic cover than Germany. It is estimated that at least 100 bogus diplomats are currently stationed in Russia’s diplomatic facilities throughout Germany.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 10 October 2022 | Permalink
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Ireland halts issuances of Russian diplomatic visas due to espionage concerns
February 18, 2024 by Joseph Fitsanakis 2 Comments
In April 2022, Ireland expelled four Russian diplomats, which it claimed were undercover intelligence officers. A subsequent report by the London-based Times newspaper alleged that a major reason Dublin had expelled the diplomats was their “efforts to cultivate contacts with dissident republicans and loyalist paramilitaries” in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland, which is British soil. The report added that at least one of the four expelled Russian diplomats was believed to be an intelligence officer for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces —widely known by its Cold War-era initials, GRU.
On February 10, The Irish Times alleged that the Irish government was “refusing to allow Russia to replace diplomats assigned to its Dublin embassy […] due to concerns over espionage”. The article went on to claim that Russia’s diplomatic presence in Ireland had “dropped by half” and was causing a “tense standoff” between Ireland and Russia. It also quoted a spokesman from the Russian embassy in Dublin, who decried Ireland’s “unacceptable visa and accreditation policy”. The Russians told the paper that their embassy was staffed by just eight administrative staff and six diplomats.
On February 17, The Irish Times said it had corroborated the Russian officials’ claims by speaking with Micheál Martin, Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs. Martin was approached by the newspaper’s reporters in Germany, where he attended the Minich Security Conference. Martin told The Irish Times that the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs was carefully “scrutinizing” every new application for a diplomatic visa by the Russian government. The reason for the careful scrutiny, said Martin, was a number of advisories issued by Ireland’s intelligence services, suggesting “that other activities were underway” at the Russian embassy and that some embassy staff “were not actually diplomats but were performing intelligence functions”. Martin added that the Irish government had determined “15 diplomats should be adequate for [Russia’s] needs” in Ireland.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 18 February 2024 | Permalink
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with diplomacy, Dublin (Ireland), Ireland, Micheál Martin, News, Russia, Russian embassy in Ireland