Thread by @LCueilleur

Small service - big tasks
#thread

Luxembourg played an active role in the Cold War. For the Soviet bloc it was an important gateway for intelligence operations. The State Intelligence Service #SRE is unable to cope with its tasks. Assistance comes from abroad 1/13

Under Soviet pressure exerted since the late 1960's, Luxembourg agreed to sign an air traffic memorandum with the USSR in 1974 and a formal agreement in 1975. Shortly afterwards #Aeroflot opens a travel agency in Luxembourg city 2/13

Another service moves into the office building in 35, rue Glesener a little later. Above the travel agency the #SRE intelligence service operates a covert office. All movements at Aeroflot are monitored and registered 3/13

Another target is the Soviet travel agency Intourist 41, rue des Glacis. Special attention is paid to an old villa 41, boulevard de la Pétrusse. Soviet Press Agency Novosti operates there. It is under permanent observation 4/13

At that time #SRE was dependent on technical know-how from abroad. Tapping technology made in Germany comes from #Bundesnachrichtendienst. These are several black metal boxes (about 40 centimetres long), co-developed by the #BND and the #Verfassungsschutz 5/13

They make it possible to break into telephone conversations without the person concerned noticing anything. The Germans call them "Neger". The Luxembourgers adopted the expression 6/13

In the 1980s the Soviet Embassy 116, rue Cyprien Merjai near the village Beggen had up to 400 employees - not only diplomats. „Disproportionately large for a small country“, the USA repeatedly criticise 7/13

The Luxembourg intelligence service #SRE had less than 30 employees at the time. He is dependent on US aid and the #CIA provides the equipment. The Soviet embassy is being observed with a photographic and film camera 8/13

A car equipped with video equipment is used in front of the entrance to the complex. There is also a direct video link to the embassy entrance in the 1980s. This was destroyed in 1985 in a bomb attack in the old town of Luxembourg 9/13

The #SRE surveillance reports were written in English and forwarded to the #CIA. 1982, Aeroflot Flight 343 Moscow-Luxembourg-Havana-Lima route crashed on the first stopover in Luxembourg. 7 people died when the IL-62 skidded off the runway and crashed into a grove of trees 10/13

Not only emergency services are on site. The #SRE is sifting through the debris, looking for the diplomatic pouch. In the HUMINT sector, Western intelligence services were able to operate „freely“ in Luxembourg. Similar to #Austria, the security authorities did not look 11/13

The historical review of the #SRE in Luxembourg is still in its infancy. The history of the intelligence service is a difficult one to deal with. This is shown by this first summary by two historians in 2019 12/13: img.100komma7.lu/uploads/media/…

Intelligence operations against Soviet installations in West Germany 13/13

https://twitter.com/LCueilleur/status/1283033805163552775?s=20