Spying against oil-rich Norway returns to Cold War levels after lull

OSLO, Norway: International espionage against oil- and technology-rich Norway is now back at Cold War levels, after spying dwindled following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, police intelligence said Friday.

NATO-member Norway is a major exporter of oil and natural gas and shares land and sea borders in the Arctic with Russia. That includes vast disputed areas claimed by both countries in the Barents Sea, which has massive fish stocks and is seen as a potentially rich area for petroleum production.

In an interview published Friday in the Oslo newspaper Aftenposten, Norway’s top police intelligence officer, Joern Holme, said spying against the Nordic country has been on the rise, but refused to name any countries.

“Many countries’ intelligence services were very active in Norway during the Cold War. Then things calmed down in the 1990s, before activities increased again,” he said. “We are now back at Cold War levels. The big difference is that many more countries are now active in Norway.”

“I am not going to comment on which countries,” Holme said. “But there are more countries active than people might immediately think of.”

AP