Create a CIA-style European spy service, von der Leyen is told

BERLIN — The European Union is under orders to launch its own spy agency.

As part of a sweeping review of the bloc’s readiness for war and crisis issued Wednesday, ex-Finnish President Sauli Niinistö reckons the EU needs its own intelligence agency to help countries fend off threats, saboteurs and foreign agents operating in capitals across the continent through more information sharing.

Back in March, Niinistö — who was president of Finland for more than a decade — was given a mission by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to deliver a detailed report on the bloc’s readiness for war and civil defense, along with proposals for improvement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been waging war in Ukraine on the EU’s eastern border for years now, and his operatives are active across the bloc raising concerns about the ability of national agencies to predict malicious activity and influence.

In his blueprint, Niinistö tells the EU to develop a “fully fledged intelligence cooperation service at the EU level that can serve both the strategic and operational needs,” while adding that “an anti-sabotage network” is needed to protect infrastructure.

More work is needed to “enhance counter espionage work in the EU institutions,” he said after presenting the plan alongside von der Leyen.

Numerous diplomats have been expelled from capitals amid accusations of espionage and Brussels has become a hot spot for agent activity with hundreds of institutions and embassies located in the city. What’s more, Russia’s war on Ukraine has caused chaos across the EU — from drones monitoring army training sites, to foiled assassination attempts on weapons executives and attacks on undersea infrastructure.

Western allies already share intelligence — with the Five Eyes network tying together the agencies in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom — and such an EU agency should be focused around making good use of information already operational, said Niinistö.

“We need to trust each other,” Niinistö said.

But there’s little chance the EU is about to pick out the best and brightest of its recruits for a career in high-risk missions abroad anytime soon — not least because member countries would point to the leaky EU executive arm as a reason not to do so.

“We all know that intelligence gathering is primarily the responsibility of member states,” said von der Leyen. “We should build on improving the flow of information, information gathering and intelligence gathering.”

There are numerous other areas where the bloc should shore up its readiness for conflict, he said, also proposing an EU Preparedness Law that would set out “principles, standards, and targets” under which countries should cooperate. For example, the EU lacks a million cybersecurity experts, Niinistö said, and while he isn’t advocating military conscription he does advocate for capitals to introduce programs that bring civilians into national defense.

Security agencies also need to “make it as difficult as possible for hostile foreign intelligence services to operate anywhere in the EU,” he said.

Niinistö’s findings will feed into von der Leyen’s second term, in which the EU will have its first-ever defense commissioner who will be tasked with drafting a white paper on defense to land by the spring.