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Norwegian Citizen Arrested for Leaking Confidential Information to Russia

If found guilty, the accused could face a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

August 18, 2020
Norwegian Citizen Arrested for Leaking Confidential Information to Russia
SOURCE: BARENTS OBSERVER

On Saturday, police in Oslo arrested a Norwegian citizen on charges of disclosing confidential information to foreign entities. He was arrested immediately after attending a meeting with a Russian intelligence officer. The Norwegian Police Security Service, in a post on Twitter, said, “The man is accused of having handed information to a foreign state that could harm basic national interests.” An official from the police force later confirmed that the information was being leaked to Russian officials. If found guilty of the charges, he faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

The accused was an employee of a firm called DNV GL, which provides the necessary certification for entities in the “maritime, oil and gas and renewables industries” to insure their equipment. Representatives of the company said that this breach was a “very serious matter” and ensured authorities of their complete cooperation for the investigation. Line Nyvoll Nygaard, the prosecutor for Norway’s intelligence agency, said, “Through his position (he) had access to information which, in our opinion, could be of great interest and significance to other countries and other actors.”

Norway and Russia have often accused the other of spying and espionage. In 2019, a retired border inspector from Norway, Frode Berg, was sentenced for 14 years after facing charges of espionage. Berg was the first such arrest of a Norwegian citizen in Russia since World War II. He allegedly disclosed confidential information about Russia’s nuclear submarines to Norwegian authorities. Later that year, Russia and Norway, along with Lithuania, engaged in a “spy swap”, wherein Berg, along with two Lithuanian “spies”, were released, in exchange for two Russian citizens who were captured and arrested in Lithuania. In fact, in February 2020, the security forces in Norway released a report expressing concern over the threat of espionage, specifically in issues relating to defence and research, faced by Norway from foreign actors, including Russia, China and Iran.

Nevertheless, even in the face of these tensions, Norway and Russia share a unique relationship. Norway is the only member of the NATO that shares a border with Russia. Hence, regional cooperation between the two is inevitable and required because of cross-border movement and trade relations. For instance, Russia is one of the most significant trade partners of Norway’s seafood industry. However, Vladimir Putin’s re-election in 2012 led to a downfall in Norwegian-Russian cooperation along their border, caused in part by Putin’s crackdown on NGOs and civil rights in the region. These relations have been worsened further by NATO’s growing anti-Russian sentiments. Consequently, in 2018, Norway conducted a NATO military exercise and hosted over 50,000 participants from 31 countries.