Lithuania’s latest review of intelligence threats: five new points

BNS highlights main five points from last year’s report:

1. Risks to financial sector.

This year, there is more focus on the investments falling short of national security, including foreign funds and company with links with Russia and Belarus. The review also warns that the rapidly growing financial technologies sector is targeted by businesses that could be dangerous for Lithuania due to the origin of its capital, as well as operations and links in hostile countries.

2. No identification of spies.

This year, the document does not contain data about specific suspected spies, only providing information about the criminal investigations that has already been published. Last year, the report told about activities of former Russian FSB employee, Sergey Kuleshov, in border regions and featured a photograph of a Russian intelligence officer working under the disguise as a diplomat.

3. Focus on elections.

This year’s report speaks about the risks of Russia trying to influence the 2019 presidential elections, warning about possible hacker attacks. The intelligence last year said that Russia’s intelligence agencies had worked particularly hard to gather information about internal political processes before the 2016 elections, recruiting Lithuanian residents who had no intelligence possibilities, however, did not provide information about Russia’s interference with the elections.

4. Warning about KGB agents.

This year, the report includes a warning about Russian intelligence services, aiming to recruit citizens of Lithuania, still using classified information contained in Russian archives about former KGB agents in Lithuania. For the first time, the report suggests that Russian intelligence aims to track down and discredit former secret collaborators of the Soviet Union who have not come forward with their KGB past and still work in state institutions.

5. Less about ethnic minorities and neighbors.

Unlike last year, this year’s document does not feature an assessment of the domestic political situation in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. This year’s report does not speak about collaboration of some Polish nationals living in the Vilnius region with the Russian Embassy, it does not contain the controversial warning of “exclusive rights to the Polish community.”