Brussels, the diplomatic capital of the world and host to the NATO headquarters and EU institutions, is under the highest terrorist threat. MO* investigative journalist Kristof Clerix, author of two books on intelligence, explores the Belgian security landscape. Who is keeping Brave Little Belgium safe?

At least three senior officials from sensitive European departments have in recent years been called back from Brussels by their country of origin, on suspicion of having had contacts with Russian intelligence, MO* has learned from several knowledgeable sources in the world of security and intelligence. These kind of affairs are handled behind the ...

The Belgian Federal prosecutor’s office has launched an inquiry into two Russian intelligence officers that have clandestinely acquired the Belgian nationality with the help of Belgian diplomats. 

Information on the latest developments in Ukraine is of utmost importance for European policy makers. A crucial player in this field is the EU Intelligence Analysis Centre (INTCEN), the EU’s own intelligence hub in Brussels. Director Ilkka Salmi: ‘Our reporting helps the European External Action Service and other European institutions t ...

When the world’s most powerful man asks your personal advice on one of the most sensitive geopolitical topics,  it’s fair to say you are influential. Together with four other Americans, privacy expert Peter Swire was tasked by president Obama to write a review on NSA reform. ‘Of the 46 recommendations we made, 70 percent has ...

Several espionage affairs make the headlines in Belgium. The partly state-owned telecom company Belgacom became victim of a cyber attack and also the Belgian ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office have been hacked. Actually that doesn’t really come as a big surprise, as Brussels already since the Cold War is one of ...

Like the Soviet Union and the US used to have a “red telephone line” during the Cold War in case of emergency, also the EU has a direct emergency line with Washington. Did the NSA try to spy on Brussels through that connection? Alexandro Legein, head of the Security Service of the European Council, comments.

In an interview with MO*, Alain Winants, the head of the Belgian civil secret service ("Veiligheid van de Staat") comments on the recent spy case in Estonia.