European Union

Europe, Moldova, United States
West increases aid to boost Chisinau's cyber defence capacities

Since the unrest in Transnistria at the end of April, the media and international community have kept an eye on Moldova. Intelligence agencies in the country are worried about their cyber capacities, despite a boost from Chisinau's Israeli and Western allies, which has increased in recent weeks.

China, Ukraine
War in Ukraine: China concentrates its diplomatic attention on Europe

Although China, Russia and America are toughening up their public positions, the authorities in Beijing are working behind the scenes to push the different parties towards their own proposals for resolving the conflict in Ukraine.

The Intelligence Gazette
Afghan planes in Tashkent, Russian military engineers decorated, DNI

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, we serve up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week, we go from Paris to Tashkent, Washington, Brussels and Kabul.

Uzbekistan/AfghanistanTashkent refuses to return Afghan planes to Kabul.

RussiaMoscow decorates military engineers.

FranceMarc Burg lures more top spies to his degree course.

ParisSenators call for a law on facial recognition.

United StatesDNI tasked again to tackle China's support to Russia.

EuropeEuropol, future watchdog of foreign investment in the EU.

China, Serbia
China gains ground in Serbia with new civil-military partnership model

Beijing's delivery of HQ-22 surface-to-air missiles to Serbia in early April fits in with part of a broader plan to attract non-NATO European countries its way.

France, Iraq
French security firms struggle to get foot back in Iraq

The promise of contracts tied to large infrastructure projects made by Baghdad raised high hopes among French security specialists, particularly GEOS and Amarante. But these opportunities have yet to materialise.

Kazakhstan, United States
Chevron appoints David Merkel, defender of Kazakhstan's jailed ex-spymaster Massimov

A former State Department official who was close to the Nazarbayev administration, David Merkel has been campaigning for the release of Karim Massimov, who was Chevron's key contact in Kazakhstan.

Europe, France, Libya
Battle rages for security contracts in Libya

European Border Assistance Mission, ENI, EU External Action Service... one after another, major armed security contracts are becoming the subject of intense battles between specialist service providers, while the situation on the ground remains critical.

Europe
Contract-hungry industry tries to weigh in as Interpol charts standards for anti-drone measures

Interpol will soon be issuing its first recommendations on anti-drone measures. The industry is involved in this process that will structure the global market, and is trying to make its voice heard.

China, Ukraine
In Kyiv, Chinese state security conveys Beijing's offer to mediate

The Guoanbu is continuing behind-the-scenes negotiations in Kyiv to try to convince the US and the EU to negotiate with Russia and Ukraine, along the lines of six-party talks used for North Korea.

United Kingdom, United States
Arqit plays key role in big quantum encryption projects under development in US and UK

London-based Arqit, which is a key partner of the UK's GCHQ and the US Air Force, is setting the pace in government research on quantum encryption and key distribution in the US and the UK.

Spotlight | Europe, United States
EU anti-corruption investigators under fire in Seychelles

The corruption case brought against members of former president France-Albert René's entourage has been largely put together with the help of investigators under contract to the European Union. However, their impartiality and methods have been called into question by defence lawyers.

Russia, United States
US intelligence got confirmation of Russia's plans to invade Ukraine on 18 January

After regular alerts over a two-month period, American intelligence services were able to corroborate their suspicions about Russia's intentions towards Ukraine on 18 January. It was on this date that Washington was finally able to assemble the trail of clues left by Moscow into a coherent whole.

Spotlight | France
Russia-Ukraine war prompts France to patch over deep intelligence gaps

The Ukraine conflict has forced France, like Germany, to rethink its 2023 defence budget in order to funnel more funds into special operations and intelligence equipment. Each agency and branch of the army is compiling its list of urgent requests.

China, Europe
For its secure communications, EU diplomacy seeks to replace Chinese provider Hytera

The European External Action Service has put up for bids the contract held since 2016 by China's Hytera group, which is close to the Gonganbu and has been banned by the United States since 2019.

Spotlight | France, Germany, Italy
Germany and Italy come to forefront at global intelligence summits

The return of international cyber summits allows observers to track changes in goals set by companies from countries keen to export their wares. German and Italy have picked up the pace as France falls behind.