France’s former spy chief says Russians had ‘mole’ in ministry

A “MOLE” was working for Russia in the office of the French defence minister until as recently as 2017, France’s former intelligence chief has said, as he warned the espionage threat from the East did not end with the Cold War.

Bernard Bajolet, the former head of DGSE, the French equivalent of MI6, was asked about reports of such a mole during the filming of a documentary about Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, which aired at the weekend.

“That’s right, and I informed the government [about it],” he said. “In recent years, people tended to say, all that ended with the Cold War, let’s not waste time against spies that don’t exist. The priority is business and terrorism.

“Yet we clearly see that spy activity hadn’t stopped and the means employed by the Russians, the Chinese but also others, the Americans, let’s not be naive, have never been as strong.”

The defence minster at the time was Jean-yves Le Drian, now France’s foreign minister. He spearheaded French anger at losing a huge Australian submarine contract to Britain and America.

French reports first surfaced in 2018 about the mole’s detection after he met his Russian “handler” in Paris. The story was first reported in France by Mediapart, which said a spy working for Russian military intelligence, GRU, had recruited a mole inside the Le Drian office during the presidency of François Hollande. According to Mediapart, DGSE notes in 2017 make mention of a “rendez-vous between a high-ranking French officer and his Russian handler”.

“It appears the French officer was explaining France’s new policy in Eastern

Europe to an interlocutor who presented himself as a diplomat,” it said, adding that it was not initially clear whether the officer had been turned or was merely careless.

Mediapart said Mr Bajolet informed the Paris prosecutor, who launched a preliminary investigation into “betrayal by intelligence with a foreign power, information gathering with a view to their delivery to a foreign power, direct provocation or the crime of treason”.

However, the inquiry failed to progress, it said. As the affair gained traction in France yesterday, Mr Bajolet back-peddled over his comments, saying they had been misconstrued.

In a letter to AFP, he said he “never meant to react to an individual case nor to mention a ministerial cabinet in particular but wished to underline the intensity of espionage conducted against our country by foreign powers, including Russia, and the importance of the work of counter-espionage entrusted to the intelligence services”.

He added: “In no way can my response be considered a confirmation of the reality of allegations (alluded to by the journalist) over the presence of a foreign agent in the office of the minister.”

The French foreign ministry said: “At no time was the Le Drian office placed in difficulty”, adding that it was “very surprised by the declarations of a former DGSE member who knows that this type of affair is classified”.

“At root, French counter-espionage (a competency that the DGSE does not possess) works remarkably well and knows how to foil attempts by foreign powers wishing to approach places of power,” it said.

According to the Secret-défense blog on the news website l’opinion, the suspected mole was removed from the ministry but did not lose his job.

‘Spy activity hadn’t stopped and the means employed by the Russians, and others, have never been as strong’