Estonia’s foreign intelligence agency published a report (pdf) last week devoted entirely to the threats posed by Russia, with which it shares a border. That’s because Estonia deems Russia “the only country capable of posing a risk” to its sovereignty. Thus, “the emphasis is self-evident,” according the agency’s director-general, Mikk Maran.
Estonia’s foreign intelligence agency published a report (pdf) last week devoted entirely to the threats posed by Russia, with which it shares a border. That’s because Estonia deems Russia “the only country capable of posing a risk” to its sovereignty. Thus, “the emphasis is self-evident,” according the agency’s director-general, Mikk Maran.
Estonia’s report claims that Western diplomats, particularly from the US but also just about any NATO member state, are targets of “physical, verbal, or propaganda” attacks by Russian intelligence. “The goal of the FSB [Russia’s intelligence agency] is to intimidate and wear down diplomats by attrition and obstruct their everyday activities,” according to the report.
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The report lists all the ways Western diplomats are harassed in Russia by intelligence agents. While several of the tactics described in the report have been reported over the years, collected together the list makes for eye-opening reading. Among the tactics:
If incidents of harassment are raised officially, Russia routinely denies them. Instead, the accusers are ”mocked” for harboring “sick fantasies” or concocting stories from a “dime-store detective novel,” according to the Estonian report. The US State Department has formally accused Russia of intensifying harassment of American diplomats.
