According to the latest annual report of the Belgian State Security, intelligence officers from Russia and China are increasingly posing as journalists or NGO workers to gather information, and the recruitment of unofficial agents is growing. This is reported by the Belga agency, UNN reports.
Details
It is noted that since the capital of Belgium is home to EU institutions and NATO headquarters, Belgium has long been a hotbed of espionage. The country's state security service now sees foreign intelligence services becoming more sophisticated in their information gathering efforts.
The dramatic changes in international relations have prompted Russia to change its tactics. For many years, Russia has operated intelligence officers under diplomatic cover.
Over the past two years, we have forced 60 of them to leave the country, which has dealt a serious blow to their capacity. They no longer have diplomatic passports, but they can pose as journalists, employees of NGOs or representatives of Russian cultural associations
But this does not mean that Russian espionage is on the decline. Russia is increasingly relying on informal intelligence officers.
Cyberactivity and informal agents
China's intelligence operations have also undergone fundamental changes, according to a State Security report. Following the arrest of a Chinese intelligence officer in Belgium in 2018, the country has become much more cautious.
To avoid the risks, China is now focusing on cyber activity, using cover or recruiting unofficial agents. The recently exposed recruitment of far-right politician Frank Kraayelman is a "perfect illustration" of the latter, the report says.
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