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Azerbaijan
Baku's 'UN of spies' takes off

LogoSubscribers only By Pierre Gastineau
4 min read Lire en français
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Berlin, on 21 July 2026.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Berlin, on 21 July 2026. © Tobias Schwarz/AFP

The Baku Security Forum, whose 4th edition was held in the Azerbaijani capital this week, is turning into a key event for master spies across the globe. The summit has become a rare space for these spy chiefs, many of them political foes, to meet one another under the guise of a common fight against terrorism.

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Published on 23/09/26 at 12:37 GMT: A fierce diplomatic battle waged by Paris behind the scenes has resulted in the lifting of sanctions against Russian-Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov. But France's intense lobbying has revealed divisions and posturing both within the EU and French diplomacy.

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French President Emmanuel Macron walks past (L-R), Bosnia and Herzegovina's chairman of the Presidency Zeljko Komsic, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker at the European Political Community Summit in Copenhagen, on 2 October 2025.

Headlines

MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum at the British security services headquarters in London, on 16 October 2025.
Spymaster | United Kingdom Ken McCallum, the relatable Scot fighting to maintain public trust in MI5 Germany, Taiwan TSMC wants to turn Dresden into Europe's ‘little Taiwan'
A ceremony to mark the completion of structural work on the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co chip factory in Dresden, Germany, on 14 September 2026.
France DGSE's recruitment drive reveals agency's interests and weak spots
The DGSE logo.
United States US State Department's intelligence arm shakes up executive office France France excludes start-ups from ISR surface drone tender
A DriX surface drone chartered by Exail in the Bay of Biscay, France, on 23 February 2023.

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Headlines

MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum at the British security services headquarters in London, on 16 October 2025.
Spymaster | United Kingdom Ken McCallum, the relatable Scot fighting to maintain public trust in MI5 Germany, Taiwan TSMC wants to turn Dresden into Europe's ‘little Taiwan'
A ceremony to mark the completion of structural work on the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co chip factory in Dresden, Germany, on 14 September 2026.
France DGSE's recruitment drive reveals agency's interests and weak spots
The DGSE logo.
United States US State Department's intelligence arm shakes up executive office France France excludes start-ups from ISR surface drone tender
A DriX surface drone chartered by Exail in the Bay of Biscay, France, on 23 February 2023.

Related topics to this article

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