Norway: 15 employees of Russian embassy suspected of espionage and declared personae non gratae

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated in a press release on Thursday that 15 employees of the Russian Embassy in Oslo have been declared personae non gratae.

“The 15 intelligence officers have been engaging in activities that are not compatible with their diplomatic status”, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt. The activities of these intelligence officers have allegedly been monitored over time.

The persons concerned will have to leave Norway shortly. The country will not issue visas to intelligence officers seeking entry. 

This is not the first such case in Norway. Last April, three Russian intelligence officers were expelled from the country.

As the Ministry points out in its press release, Norway is not the only country that is taking steps to curtail covert Russian intelligence activity. “Many European countries have recently reduced the number of Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover, and have tightened the rules for issuing visas to Russian intelligence officers”, it wrote. 

In late March, Poland’s military counterintelligence detained a man suspected of spying for Russia. The Polish secret service claimed he was gathering intelligence about critical infrastructure facilities in two northern provinces, as well as about “the activities of the services and bodies responsible for security”. 

In mid-February, the Foreign Ministry of the Netherlands announced the expulsion of several Russian diplomats. The reason for this decision was Russia’s policy of sending in intelligence officers under the guise of embassy staff as well as its refusal to issue visas to Dutch diplomats, the ministry said.