Spy Scandal in Finland: Secret Finnish Monitoring Base for Russian Communications Revealed!
A major spy controversy in Finland. The police searched the house of a local journalist that wrote about Finnish surveillance in the Russian military. President Niinistö has already commented on the leakage controversy. Tomorrow, the Finnish government will hold an emergency meeting to address the issue. What did the journalist discover and how can it influence relations between Helsinki and Moscow?
Daria Grigorova with the details.
Helsingin Sanomat publication office. Here, the article about the surveillance was published. It's hard to say what created a bigger controversy: the article itself or the searches conducted in the house of one of the journalists. Either way, the Finnish society is now aware of a new "Russian threat", during discussions on joining the NATO. Very few believe it's just a mere coincidence.
The article entitled "A Secret Place in Finland" accurately describes the defense center in the town of Tikkakoski. 150 officers whose task it is to monitor the Russian military via electronic surveillance. How did the journalists get a hold of the classified data? The criminal police have started an investigation. They have already searched the house of Laura Halminen. The officers confiscated her cell phone and PC. But the main evidence — a hard drive containing the results of her investigation was crushed with a hammer to make sure the authorities don't discover her source.
Sauli Niinistö, President of Finland: "Helsingin Sanomat acquired the classified data illegally. A criminal investigation has been started".
Niinistö who is currently running for a new term has made his position clear last week: He sees no reason for Finland to join the NATO. On the other hand, this October together with General Secretary Stoltenberg he launched an EU-NATO hybrid threat center. According to the Finnish law, joining the Alliance can only be decided by a referendum. Right now, the statistics are clear: only 22% of Finnish citizens support joining the NATO.
Markku Kivinen, director of the Aleksanteri Institute: "I think our citizens don't see Russia as a threat. The NATO is also not a threat to Finland. We're afraid of a new Cold War".
Finland will hold presidential elections on January 28. Many experts consider the article to be connected to the election campaign.
Johan Beckman, political analyst: "I believe NATO's trying to provoke us. They want to put pressure on the President of Finland. His response is another thing, but there were similar cases when the US and UK secret services conducted operations against the presidents, who tried to maintain friendly relations with Russia".
The whole department of Helsingin Sanomat that conducted the investigation can be indicted for the disclosure of the classified information and banned from journalism. But for now, no official charges have been pressed.
Daria Grigorova and Anton Chagaev. Vesti, Helsinki, Finland