DThe acting representative of Russia to the EU, Kirill Logvinov, is said to be suspected by Belgian state security of working for the Russian foreign secret service SWR. The Belgian newspaper “De Tijd” reported this on Tuesday, citing “well-informed sources from several countries,” after investigating the case in conjunction with other European media. Accordingly, the 48-year-old diplomat was already in the sights of state security last year when 19 Russian diplomats accredited to the EU and 21 others accredited to the Kingdom of Belgium were expelled from the country last year. At that time, the paper continues, the European External Action Service (EEAS) stepped on the brakes and thus prevented further expulsions.
Neither the EEAS nor the Belgian government commented on the findings. The CV published on the website of the Russian mission to the EU makes no reference to any positions with the secret service. Accordingly, Logvinov took over the acting leadership in September 2022 after the previous boss, Vladimir Chizhov, returned to Russia and became a member of the Federation Council there. From 2018 Logvinow was deputy EU ambassador. He previously headed the NATO department at the Foreign Ministry for four years and held various diplomatic posts, including at his country’s embassy in Berlin from 2010 to 2014.
17 satellite dishes at the Russian embassy
According to De Tijd, Logvinov organized numerous receptions and meetings, including with colleagues from Egypt, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Syria, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Venezuela. His contacts with the EU institutions, on the other hand, were limited to purely technical contacts, as the European Union no longer has political contacts with the country since it invaded Ukraine. The European Parliament banned Russian diplomats from even entering parliament buildings.
Brussels has long been considered the “spy capital” of Europe because, with the headquarters of the EU and NATO, nowhere else is there such a high concentration of diplomats. After the expulsions last year, the number of Russian diplomats was greatly reduced, and Moscow then closed its NATO mission. The Netherlands and Germany also expelled diplomats.
The Russian embassy in the Brussels suburb of Uccle is suspected of being the operations center for secret service agents. There are 17 satellite dishes on the roofs of the spacious complex, more than on any other representation of the country in Europe. Among the 21 people expelled by Belgium were the ambassador and the consul general in Antwerp, in addition to experts in technical intelligence. The media was able to prove that they had direct contacts with Russian services. In its annual report for 2022, the Belgian State Security Service spoke of a “historic decision”: the continued stay of the expelled spies would have “posed too great a risk to security”.
#Russian #ambassador #suspected #espionage