According to information published by a German publication Der Spiegel The Belgian State Security Service, based on its sources, suspects Kirill Logvinov, Russia’s permanent representative to the European Union, of having connections with Russian foreign intelligence. According to the publication, a check is currently being carried out against Logvinov, who is the highest-ranking Russian diplomat in the EU. Belgian security forces suspect him of “engaging in illegal activities against the interests of Europe.”
It was learned from the diplomatic circles of the European Union that the Logvinov case is the subject of an internal dispute in 2022. Belgian intelligence insisted that he be placed on the unwanted persons list and deported from the country. But the European External Action Service (EAD) blocked this, possibly fearing negative consequences for its representatives in Russia.
Der Spiegel states that the EU’s European External Action Service did not give a clear answer to the question of why Logvinov was not deported from Belgium due to suspicion of espionage. A spokesman for Belgium’s state security agency said measures were being taken to constantly assess the level of threat.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commented on the publication about Logvinov’s possible involvement in espionage. He invited Der Spiegel journalists to publish a list of German intelligence agents around the world and noted that if Western media launched a campaign against Russian diplomats, similar measures could be taken against employees of the diplomatic services of Western countries.
Previously in Poland detained A Belarusian suspected of spying for Russia.