British Counterintelligence Considers Russia the Biggest Problem

Today, most of the problems in the UK are created by agents of the Russian Federation. This was stated in an interview with the BBC by the Head of the British Counterintelligence Service (MI-5) Ken McCallum.

“If you ask me which state’s intelligence is causing the most problems for the UK in October 2020, I will answer that it is Russia. But if you ask which of the countries will form the world in the next decade and present the greatest opportunities and the biggest challenges for Britain, it is China. Figuratively speaking, if Russia’s intelligence services are periods of bad weather, China is a whole-world climate change,” McCallum said.

He stressed that his country is now dealing with an unpleasant combination of terrorism, which has gone nowhere, and the growth of hostile activity, which is supported at the state level.

According to the Head of MI-5, threats are becoming more diverse, and it is increasingly difficult to see them in time. He also drew attention to the fact that today the threat to the lives and health of ordinary people has increased.

“In 2020, we are no longer talking about spies and theft of state secrets, although all this is also important… We see a threat to people up to attempted murder, as demonstrated by the case of Navalny’s poisoning. We see a threat to democracy, our infrastructure, the economics, scientific research, a threat in the broadest areas,” McCallum said.

He called the fight against terrorism and Islamic extremism inside the country the main task on the domestic front but also stressed the growing threat from extreme right-wing organisations.

Bohdan Marusyak