Informing allies about Russian meddling important task, says FIS director
Russia keeps trying to destroy the unity of the European Union and NATO, director-general of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service, Mikk Marran told daily Postimees in an interview. This means that it is an important task of his service to keep the allies up to date about Russian influencing attempts.
Marran explained in his interview with Postimees (link in Estonian) that it is in Estonia's interest that Russian attempts at influencing policy in the West aren't successful.
"We need to direct the attention of Western intelligence agencies as well as the public to this issue," Marran said. He added that the Foreign Intelligence Service has repeatedly pointed out in detail how Russia is setting up and running its influencing attempts in Western countries.
"We've talked about this in the last two public reports, where we describe in detail how Russia is using European politicians as a means to gain influence. I'm glad that this stirs up a debate, because like I said, that's the best weapon against this kind of meddling," Marran said.
Russia's use of Western politicians as agents for its own interests has so far had less attention than its disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks, Marran said.
The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service regularly publishes a security environment assessment and has done so in English since 2016. You can find an overview here.
-
Download the ERR News app for Android and iOS now and never miss an update!
Editor: Dario Cavegn
