Finnish SUPO Notes Increased Interest Of Russian, Chinese Intelligence Staff In Finland

The number of foreign intelligence agency staff in Finland is high, considering the country's size, with Russia and China being particularly active, Finland's Security Intelligence Service (SUPO) said on Thursday

HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st March, 2019) The number of foreign intelligence agency staff in Finland is high, considering the country's size, with Russia and China being particularly active, Finland's Security Intelligence Service (SUPO) said on Thursday.

"The number of foreign intelligence service representatives stationed in Finland is still quite high in relation to the size of the country. Finland is of interest particularly to Russian and Chinese intelligence services," the press release read, citing SUPO's yearbook.

According to SUPO, the activities of foreign intelligence services are mostly aimed at influencing Finland's political decisions and predicting its policies in various areas, including security and foreign policy.

"Foreign intelligence activity aims at forecasting Finland's policies in various fields and influencing political decisions. Like in the previous years, the Primary topics of interest for foreign intelligence in Finland in 2018 were e.g. the debate on NATO, foreign and security political strategies, Finland's position on EU sanctions policy, and the security situation in the Baltic Sea region," the press release said.

SUPO also said that in 2018, terrorist threat in Finland remained at level 2 on the four-level scale, with the most significant threat being posed by individual actors or small groups "motivated by radical Islamist propaganda."