Thread by @tonyingesson

I'm currently revisiting some of my old literature and cases for a book chapter I'm working on, so I thought I'd share a particularly interesting case involving the Stasi, Swedish intelligence and a double agent with you all.

Thread time!

1/13

The story starts in 1985, when Swedish counterintelligence receives information that a member of the Women's Air Force Volunteers is making regular visits to East Germany.

A closer investigation reveals that the woman has risen quickly in the ranks of the Volunteers.

2/13

Meanwhile, in 1984/1985, she has been teaching Swedish at an East German university, in Greifswald. This particular educational institution was associated with espionage targeting the Nordic countries.

3/13

Swedish counterintelligence manages to obtain extensive information about Greifswald. The whole setup fits with the known Warsaw Pact interest in Swedish military volunteer associations.

Counterintelligence initiates telephone- and postal surveillance.

4/13

By November 1986, suspicions are only getting stronger. The woman has shown particular interest in courses for the volunteers that include classified contents. She has also shown particular interest in Air Force courses in photography.

5/13

In 1968, the woman in question married a former East German citizen, who had already been investigated, suspected of espionage (but the investigation had been closed due to a lack of evidence).

The couple had divorced in February, 1985.

6/13

The ex-husband had apparently been involved with Soviet intelligence, specifically the GRU, rather than the Stasi. In public, he had never missed an opportunity to criticize the Soviets, but nevertheless kept visiting the Soviet Union regularly (a typical M.O.).

7/13

It turns out that the ex-husband, who had escaped to West Germany in 1961, had arrived in Sweden in 1964. In 1973 he obtained Swedish citizenship. Only afterward was it revealed that he knew not only Russian but also Swedish at the time of his arrival.

8/13

The fact that this "refugee" from East Germany was able to visit both East Germany and the Soviet Union regularly is a red flag to Swedish counterintelligence. Also, both his regular residence and his summer cottage are located close to Swedish military installations.

9/13

Counterintelligence continue to focus on the woman, now suspecting that she has been recruited by her ex-husband. The woman is receiving cryptic postcards, another known communications method used by the Stasi.

10/13

Then, suddenly, the prosecutor decides that the investigation is to be closed immediately. Phone surveillance has revealed that the woman is in fact a double agent working for the most secret unit in Swedish military intelligence, SSI.

11/13

Her visit to East Germany in 1986 was in fact a mission for SSI. 84 tapes with recorded phone conversations are destroyed along with 154 pages of notes. All criminal charges are dropped.

Unfortunately, everything else about the case remains classified.

12/13

Nevertheless, the case is an interesting illustration of both the capabilities of Swedish counterintelligence and foreign intelligence in the 1980s, as well as the strict compartmentation which meant that neither part knew what the other was doing.

END

13/13

@LeadingOrderSol National security issues of this caliber are typically kept secret for 70 years, so we can expect to learn more around 2056.