Ukrainian security services have been recognised as among the best intelligence services in Europe – L'Express

The French magazine L’Express has published the first ranking of Europe’s leading intelligence services, compiled by an international group of experts. Sixty intelligence specialists from 25 countries took part in the assessment, identifying the most effective European agencies based on their own experience of working with them.

According to the study’s findings, the top five were the intelligence services of the UK, France, the Netherlands, Ukraine and Germany.

First place – Britain’s MI6

The UK’s foreign intelligence service, MI6, topped the ranking. According to the experts, the service’s main strength remains its ability to build relationships with high-level sources of information over many years and to make effective use of the intelligence obtained.

As the publication notes, MI6 agents have managed to infiltrate the state structures of Russia, China, Turkey and Iran at a deep level. An additional factor that has bolstered the reputation of British intelligence was its early warning of Russia’s preparations for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

France’s DGSE came second

Second place went to the French foreign intelligence service, the DGSE.

L’Express describes it as the only European intelligence service with a truly global reach. The agency’s strength is considered to lie in its combination of modern technical intelligence methods, the work of its human intelligence network and the conduct of operational activities.

According to the magazine, it was the DGSE that, in 2023, received information about Yevgeny Prigozhin’s preparations for an armed mutiny against Vladimir Putin and passed this information on to the US Central Intelligence Agency.

Dutch intelligence ranks among the top three

Third place was shared by two Dutch services – the AIVD and the MIVD. According to experts, Dutch intelligence agencies have been involved in a number of the most significant covert operations of the last two decades. Furthermore, in 2016 and 2017, they worked alongside the CIA to train Ukrainian specialists.

The publication also notes that the European intelligence centre for counter-terrorism operates from the AIVD’s headquarters.

The SBU and the GUR are among Europe’s top intelligence services

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (GUR) took fourth place in the ranking.

According to the authors of the study, the Ukrainian security services have managed to impress their European partners with their innovation, unconventional approach to operations and willingness to take on a high level of operational risk.

One of the heads of a European intelligence agency, whose comments are quoted in the magazine, compared the Ukrainian services to the Israeli intelligence agency ‘Mossad’, referring to their conduct of large-scale and high-risk covert operations, including sabotage against the ‘Nord Stream’ gas pipelines, Operation ‘Spider’ and the assassinations of Russian generals in Moscow.

At the same time, L’Express notes that the level of trust in the Ukrainian security services among European partners remains mixed. Some members of the intelligence community believe that Russian agents may still retain influence within certain Ukrainian organisations.

Germany rounded off the top five

Fifth place went to the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND). According to those involved in the ranking, German intelligence is known above all for its high standard of analytical work, its systematic approach and its ability to identify political and economic changes in a timely manner.

However, as some representatives of the European intelligence community point out, the BND’s capabilities in conducting traditional overseas espionage operations are viewed with greater caution. The magazine’s interviewees compared German intelligence officers more to analysts at research centres than to operatives carrying out complex undercover operations.