Federal prosecutor wants to place greater emphasis on counterintelligence
Published: Wednesday, Jun 19th 2024, 06:41
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According to Attorney General Stefan Blättler, counter-espionage should be given greater priority in Switzerland in future. The investigations against a suspected Russian agent are not an isolated case, as Blättler said in an interview without giving further details.
In an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung published on Wednesday, Blättler said that the Office of the Attorney General wanted to send out a signal by communicating more openly about the investigation into the alleged agent. "You can't just dance around on our noses," he said, deliberately somewhat boldly.
Swiss security authorities have stopped a suspected Russian agent weeks before the Ukraine conference. Tamedia first reported on the case. According to the report, the agent had contacts with whom he attempted to procure weapons and dangerous substances at several locations in Switzerland. However, there were no indications of plans to carry out an attack in Switzerland, as the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland announced on Tuesday in response to an inquiry from the Keystone-SDA news agency.
Representing Western values
Blättler justified the cautious communication in Wednesday's interview by saying that crimes against state security involve different interests than other offenses. "If we don't say anything, that doesn't mean we don't do anything," he said. Prosecution is an important element of the Swiss security system.
Switzerland is mentally and ideally anchored in the Western world and committed to Western values, said Blättler. "If these values are attacked, then this must also have consequences under criminal law," said the Attorney General.
Threat remains high
The threat to Switzerland from foreign espionage, particularly from Russia and China, remains high, a spokeswoman for the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) told Keystone-SDA, confirming Tamedia's report.
The greatest current threat from espionage comes from Russian intelligence services. Russia would deploy the most intelligence service employees under diplomatic cover in Switzerland in Europe. According to the FIS, one reason for this is that many international organizations are based in Switzerland.
©Keystone/SDA
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