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Russia is carrying out espionage on the territory of Ireland, trying to find out state secrets, as well as production secrets.
This was stated by the head of the Security and Intelligence Bureau of the Irish National Police, Michael McElgann, reports RTÉ.
McElgann said that few countries conduct espionage or subversive activities inside Ireland, but Russia is among these rare ranks.
The purpose of such actions is to support extremist groups within Ireland itself and create distrust of its government.
— The police are keeping a close eye on people they believe are engaged in espionage. The security and intelligence services work closely with other European intelligence services to monitor the entry and exit of suspected spies, — McElgann said.
He added that it is true that countries conduct intelligence activities outside their borders to gain a competitive advantage and in their own national interests.
However, Ireland is generally not of wide interest.
— Our responsibility is to investigate and monitor threats from hostile states, including espionage within a state. We seek to monitor specific threats. Russia is one of those countries in which we have an interest, — the head of the Irish law enforcement agency summed up.
Prepared by: Sergey Daga