Espionage by Europeans: treason and counterintelligence in post-Cold War Europe/

JONSSON Michael

Espionage by Europeans: treason and counterintelligence in post-Cold War Europe/ Michael Jonsson - 2024

As War rages in Ukraine, counterintelligence has again taken centre stage for European intelligence agencies. In spite of the long-ascendant espionage threat, to date little is known about who is recruited, what motivated them and how they were caught. This article presents an analysis of espionage against European NATO and/or EU members, based on court convictions in 2010–2021. This provides a first overview of contemporary espionage in Europe, and complements previous research, which is dominated by single-case studies, mainly of Anglo-Saxon cases. Replicating large-N studies of American espionage, the study identifies transatlantic commonalities, including perpetrators being overwhelmingly male, middle-aged, and a mainly working outside of defence or intelligence agencies.


ESPIONAGE--EUROPE--EU--NATO