![]() “We are doing the maximum, on the ground, to show the lines” not to be crossed, the FIS chief said, adding that espionage operations had a negative impact on Geneva’s international importance and were detrimental to Switzerland’s credibility.Īsked about the report in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs regular press conference on Tuesday, spokesperson Mao Ning rejected the Swiss findings and said that China was opposed to espionage. While China is also believed to have dozens of spies at its diplomatic missions in Switzerland, their number is significantly less than Russia’s, the agency said.Ĭhina’s agents rely more on non-diplomatic cover, the FIS said, and are mainly described officially as scientists, journalists or business executives.ĭussey said he expected China’s intelligence operation to become stronger in Europe, supported by growing resources. The Swiss secret service, which has 450 staff, said the war in Ukraine was forcing it to extend its monitoring to areas that had previously received little attention, such as Turkey and India, because Russia had been using companies in such countries for procurement. “Of the approximately 220 people accredited as diplomatic or techno-administrative staff in the Russian missions in Geneva and Bern, probably at least a third work for the Russian intelligence services,” FIS chief Christian Dussey told a press conference. Hundreds of diplomats are posted in the city or regularly gather there for key meetings. The UN has its European headquarters in Geneva and the city also hosts several UN agencies and international organisations. “In Europe, Switzerland is one of the states with the highest numbers of Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover, in part due to its role as a host to international organisations,” it said in the report released on Monday. That should bother every single one of us, every single one of us," In late September, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters late last month.Keep reading list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Russian ‘spy’ whale Hvaldimir spotted off Sweden coast list 2 of 4 Latest leak suggests US spying on UN chief Guterres over Russia list 3 of 4 Russia charges WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich with spying: Reports list 4 of 4 Blinken says US to share info on alleged spy balloon with allies end of list "It is clear that Evan is being held for leverage because he is an American. Gershkovich who grew up in New Jersey to Russian-speaking Jewish emigres, has been a Moscow correspondent since 2017, working first for The Moscow Times and Agence France Presse before joining the Journal in 2022. But it has cautioned that so far there has been little progress. The Biden administration has confirmed it is in discussions with the Kremlin over a deal to free Gershkovich, as well as Whelan. and his family says were also fabricated. Whelan currently remains in a prison camp serving a 16 year sentence for espionage charges the U.S. ![]() Reed and Griner were both released in prisoner swaps agreed between the Biden Administration and the Kremlin in exchange for Russians convicted of crimes in the U.S. He is one of a series of Americans seized by Russia in recent years, including the two former Marines Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan, as well as the WNBA star Brittney Griner. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. ![]() He has been held since then in Moscow's Lefortovo prison. Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in March by Russia's powerful domestic intelligence agency the FSB while on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg. ![]() Gershkovich was wearing the same clothes he had been arrested in and smiled and laughed with reporters through the glass, but he was not permitted to speak. Tuesday's hearing was held behind closed doors and reporters were only allowed into the courtroom briefly at the start. Most experts believe Russia has fabricated the charges in order to seize Gershkovich as a hostage to use as a bargaining chip with the U.S. and dozens of international media organizations have condemned as false. Gershkovich has now been in Russian detention for over six months, held on the spying charges that The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Previously, Gershkovich's lawyers stated that, in the opinion of the defense, a preventive measure not related to detention in a pre-trial detention center could be chosen for him.
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