Ties between Moscow and NATO Deteriorate Following Arrest of Italian Navy Captain
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio announced on Wednesday that he had expelled two Russian officials including the officer involved in the act of espionage. | Source: The Post
Italy has ordered the deportation of two Russian embassy officials after the arrest of an Italian naval officer who was accused on charges of espionage, gathering data on state security, and trading secret documents with a Russian military official.
The Italian captain, identified as Walter Biot, allegedly handed over 181 documents to one of the Russian diplomats by taking pictures of classified information with his smartphone and saving all material in a pen drive. Of the traded materials, police officers discovered nine classified papers and 47 NATO documents. In exchange for the documents, Biot received nearly $6000. The foreign ministry in Rome summoned Russian ambassador Sergey Razov and expelled two Russian officials.
In acknowledging the scandal, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio stated that two individuals were “involved in this extremely serious affair.” However, Russia’s foreign ministry has yet to respond to the sedition charges. One Italian website reported that the papers not only put national security at risk by sharing NATO secrets but also revealed military communications. As reported by Italian media outlet Ansa, the judge in charge of Biot’s hearing said the recent incident “was not an isolated one” and that he had also “unscrupulously betrayed Italian institutions.”
Ambassador Sergey Razov reportedly said the incident “arouses deep sorrow” as Italy ordered the expulsion of two Russian officials but stated that it “will not negatively influence the broadly constructive relations” between Italy and Russia.
While Italian media outlets are calling the incident as “the most serious since the Cold War,” the UK and US have also commented on the level of severity of this espionage case. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab allied with Italy by stating the government will take action “against Russia’s malign”. In an interview, US President Joe Biden stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “killer,” a statement which Putin dismissed.
Between Russia’s annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in 2015 and the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the ties between Moscow and NATO have been strained over the years. Meanwhile, Russia and China have become closer, though Russian Foreign Minister Lovrov has insisted that Moscow and Beijing “have no intention of forging a military alliance” targeted at the West.
In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized NATO’s expansion, deeming it “pointless” since the lack of threat from Moscow following the Collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. | Source: The Moscow Times
The Moscow Times reported last week that the Kremlin believes the future state of Russia-EU ties are “unsatisfactory,” which Putin pinned on the “unconstructive, often confrontational policies” of EU members.
Biot’s case in Italy closely resembles another instance of Russian infiltration of NATO in Bulgaria. On Mar. 19, Bulgarian authorities charged six Bulgarians as part of a Russian spy ring that was gathering information for Moscow regarding the US Central Intelligence Agency, NATO military alliance, and more. A former senior official from Bulgarian intelligence reportedly recruited individuals with access to classified information.
Beyond these two incidents, there have been multiple instances of Russia utilizing spy rings to gather information on the NATO alliance. Such tactics have remained quite consistent since the Cold War era, especially in an era of cyberspying. Bulgarian intelligence revealed forensic evidence of Russian ‘spycraft’ including video and audio intercepts, documents, and other spy equipment.
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