Norwegian Intelligence Service
Company type | Government agency |
---|---|
Industry | Intelligence agency |
Founded | 1915 |
Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
Area served | Norway |
Number of employees | 1,900 (2023) |
Parent | Norwegian Ministry of Defence |
Website | www.mil.no/etjenesten |
The Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS)[1] or Etterretningstjenesten (E-tjenesten) is a Norwegian military intelligence agency under the Chief of Defence and the Ministry of Defence.
History
Olav Njølstad says that the "Stay-behind cooperation with the US and Great Britain represented a milestone in the Norwegian intelligence services' history".[2] Furthermore, "Thru Stay-behind, CIA finally conquered their mistrust to the Norwegian intelligence services. An important turning point" was the October–November 1949 secret visit to Norway by [Frank] Wisner and Richard Helms.[2] The purpose of the visit was to discuss Stay-behind with" those with the top responsibility on the Norway's side.[2] (In 1995, the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the Intelligence Service had operated a stay-behind service in cooperation with the CIA and MI6 since the end of World War II.)
2013 inspections
On 12 August 2013 the first ever unannounced inspection by Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, was performed at the NIS headquarter at Lutvann in Oslo.[3] This inspection came to be as a result of "a complaint from one or more persons"[3] "who felt they were under surveillance".[4]
On 27 August 2013 Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee (the EOS Committee) made an unannounced inspection of Intelligence Service's facilities at Havnelageret in Oslo.[5] On 29 August 2013 Dagbladet said that according to their sources the Intelligence Service had stored personal information about more than 400 Norwegians—including diplomats and bureaucrats[6]—who either were sources for the intelligence service or people the service wanted to recruit as future sources.[3][5]
The inspection at Havnelageret was followed up[7] by an announced inspection on 4 September 2013.
Organization
The service has operated, or still operates, the following stations, all of them located north of the Arctic Circle:
- Andøya (Nordland county): former SOSUS station, suspected ACINT station
- Fauske (Nordland county): suspected FISINT (TELINT) and ELINT station
- Kirkenes (Finnmark county): suspected ELINT and NUCINT station
- Vardø (Finnmark county): the Globus II radar (HAVE STARE), suspected ELINT station
- Vadsø (Finnmark county): SIGINT (COMINT) station
Kirkenes, Vardø, and Vadsø are close to the Russian border near Severomorsk in the Murmansk district on the Kola Peninsula, the home of the former Soviet Northern Fleet and now its Russian equivalent.
The agency uses at least one ELINT ship—F/S Marjata.
E 14
E 14 (Norway) (Seksjon for spesiell innhenting) is/was a highly classified section within the Intelligence Service, focusing on covert missions abroad. For a period, the section was led by Ola Kaldager. Agents include the late Trond André Bolle.[8]
Leaders
- General Morten Haga Lunde (2016 -)
- General Kjell Grandhagen (2010-2015)[9]
- Colonel Johan Berg (1966–)[10][11]
- Vilhelm Evang (1946 to 1965)[12]
See also
References
- ^ Etterretningstjenesten EOS-utvalget. Retrieved 30 August 2013
- ^ a b c Njølstad p.395
- ^ a b c Hysj-granskerne slo til to ganger på tre uker
- ^ Slo også til mot E-tjenestens hovedkvarter
- ^ a b Kilder om E-tjenesten: - Bak denne døra har de skjult hemmelig arkiv med 400 samfunnstopper
- ^ - Må undersøke om e-tjenesten bryter loven
- ^ Ny inspeksjon hos E-tjenesten "... EOS-utvalget tilbake i lokalene for å følge opp ..."
- ^ Han vart sjefen for Norges E14-spioner - http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/artikkel.php?artid=10021746
- ^ http://www.dagbladet.no/2012/07/01/nyheter/terror/al-qaida/22381243/
- ^ Steenstrup, Bjørn, ed. (1973). "Berg, Johan". Hvem er hvem? (in Norwegian). Oslo: Aschehoug. p. 46. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
- ^ Riste, Olav; Moland, Arnfinn (1997). «Strengt hemmelig» Norsk etterretningsteneste 1945–1970 (in Norwegian). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. p. 341. ISBN 82-00-12769-9.
- ^ Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "Vilhelm Evang". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
External links
- Norwegian Intelligence Service official homepage
- Nå vil E-tjenesten ut av mystikken [Now the E Service wants out of the mysteriousness]
- http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/uriks/article344119
- http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2001/04/25/254089.html