Russia is spying on Irish soil, trying to find out state secrets and manufacturing secrets.
This was stated by the head of the Security and Intelligence Bureau of the Irish National Police, Michael McElgann, RTÉ reports.
Russian spying in Ireland — what is known
He pointed out that few countries conduct espionage or subversive activities inside Ireland, but Russia was among those rare few.
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The purpose of such actions — supporting extremist groups within Ireland itself and creating distrust of its government.
— The police keep a close eye on people they believe are spying. The security and intelligence services work closely with other European intelligence services to monitor the entry and exit of suspected spies, — said McElgann.
He added that there is indeed a practice in the world when countries conduct intelligence activities outside their borders to gain a competitive advantage and in their own national interests.
However, Ireland, as a rule, is not of wide interest.
— Our duty is to investigate and monitor threats from hostile states, including espionage within the state. We seek to monitor specific threats. Russia is one of those countries in which we are interested, — the head of the Irish law enforcement agency summarized.
