The arrests come after at least seven Russians, including the son of a close associate of President Vladimir Putin, were detained in recent weeks for flying drones and taking pictures near sensitive sites. rice field.
Norway and the rest of Europe scramble to protect critical infrastructure after the sabotage of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline. In recent months, there have been multiple drone sightings at Norwegian offshore oil and gas fields and at Norwegian airports.
A series of events has put Norway and Europe in jeopardy. The oil and gas sector is the core of the Norwegian economy. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country has become an important supplier to Europe.
Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang It was first reported on Thursday that the suspect attended a seminar on countering hybrid threats held in Vilnius, Lithuania on September 29-30.
The seminar was hosted by EU-HYBNET, the European network on hybrid threats. — Concepts that include sabotage, disinformation, cyberattacks, and other means of fighting outside of traditional military conflicts between nations.
Paivi Matira, a professor at Finland’s Laurea University of Applied Sciences and coordinator of the EU-HYBNET program, confirmed by phone that the suspected spy attended the event. He said he had not undergone a security check, but declined to comment further, citing an investigation.
An image shared by Mykolas Romeris University on Twitter shows Giammaria sitting among workshop attendees at an event held in conjunction with the Lithuanian Cybercrime Center for Excellence for Training, Research and Education on September 29.
Both the EU-HYBNET website and the Vilnius event brochure spotlight EU funding.
According to the conference brochure, the “Training and Exercise” event will allow participants to “sketch vulnerabilities that attackers might exploit” and “hybrid challenges within a realistic near-future operational environment.” It was intended to help you understand the
Participants considered different scenarios, including one case of ‘stoppage of gas flow after gas pipeline explosion’. In that case study, “the initial findings support the assumption that it was probably about sabotage rather than accident” – an eerie echo of the recent Nordstream pipeline sabotage.
Norwegian security officials announced the arrest of a 37-year-old suspect earlier this week, saying it posed a “threat to basic national interests”.
Norwegian Police and Security Deputy Chief Hedwig Mo told Norwegian media there were concerns he “may have obtained networks and information about Norwegian politics in the northern region”. Even if the information does not directly threaten Norwegian security, it could be misused by Russia, she said. Authorities did not provide information on the time of his arrest.
Details of the incident have not yet been revealed. Giammaria was doing research at the Arctic University in Norway. As of Oct. 25, he is listed as a researcher in a university think tank called “Gray Zone.” He is no longer listed on their site.
Before moving to Norway, I lived in Canada and attended the University of Ottawa and the University of Calgary. According to Global News, while in Ottawa, he volunteered to campaign for a political campaign. He graduated in 2018 with his master’s degree from the University of Calgary’s Center for Military, Security and Strategic Studies.
In 2019, he wrote an article for the Canadian Naval Review. An article titled “Base 3: The Case of CFB Churchill” advocates establishing a naval base in northern Canada.
The case comes months after another Russian “illegal” suspect was arrested in the Netherlands. In that case, the alleged Russian spy claimed to be a Brazilian seeking an internship at the International Criminal Court. He used to study in America.
“Outlaws” operate without diplomatic cover, building cover stories over time, often over the years. In his one high-profile case in 2010, the United States arrested 10 of her Russian operatives who had lived in the United States for years while secretly reporting to Moscow’s Foreign Intelligence Service. did.
