Russian business leaders and agents held secret meetings for several years – then PST got in touch
Photo: Gorm Røseth / TV 2
On Friday, the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) revealed that one of the 15 expelled Russian diplomats had held a secret meeting with a Norwegian business leader.
PST who made contact with the business summit, Inger Haugland, director of the counter-terrorism department at PST, told TV 2.
– For us, it is important to prevent such relations from developing in such a way as to cause significant harm, he said.
According to Haugland, secret meetings between Russian business leaders and intelligence officers must have taken place over several years in various locations.
The leader of this business will be an older Norwegian man, PST tells TV 2. Two Russian diplomats who were expelled in 2021 are also said to have met the Norwegian.
PST has not sued anyone in connection with the case.
– In Norway, the criminalization of intelligence is related to conveying state secrets. In many cases, there will be officers looking for sensitive, but not top-secret, classified information, which can result in potentially significant damage, Haugland said.
He said that in some cases the PST could wait and gather evidence that could be used in a criminal context, but they had not chosen to do so here.
– It’s more important for us to cut ties before we get too far. By the time the classified information was handed over, the damage was already done.
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