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Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste | |
Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1 October 1950 |
Jurisdiction | Government of Denmark |
Headquarters | Copenhagen, Denmark |
Annual budget | 975 million kr. (2019) [1] |
Minister responsible |
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Agency executive |
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Parent Agency | Ministry of Defence |
Website | Official Website |
The Danish Defence Intelligence Service, DDIS (Danish : Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste, FE), is a Danish intelligence agency, responsible for Denmark's foreign intelligence, as well as being the Danish military intelligence service. DDIS is an agency under the Ministry of Defence and works under the responsibility of the Minister of Defence. It is housed at Kastellet, Copenhagen.
The DDIS gathers, analyses, and disseminates information concerning conditions of importance to Denmark's security, and to the security of Danish military units deployed on international missions. Intelligence activities include collection of information of political, financial, scientific and military interest.
DDIS works closely with the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, which is the intelligence arm of the Danish police, and the signals intelligence unit of the Intelligence Regiment.
The current name and basic organization dates from 1 October 1967, when Defence Staff's Intelligence Department (Danish : Forsvarsstabens Efterretningsafdeling), was detached from Defence Staff (Danish : Forsvarsstaben) by decree of the Ministry of Defence, as a separate authority of its own, located directly under the Ministry of Defence.
The origin can be traced back to the General Staff's Intelligence Section (Danish : Generalstabens Efterretningssektion) created 1911 and the Naval Staff's Intelligence Section (Danish : Marinestabens Efterretningssektion) created 1920s & served in World War I & II. [2] [3] During the reconstruction of the Danish military following Denmark's joining of NATO, these two intelligence services were merged on 1 October 1950, as Defence Staff's Intelligence Section as a department under the newly erected combined military staff, the Defence Staff.
The origin of the Danish military intelligence is uncertain. 1911 appears in one of the few histories of the Danish military intelligence. [4] However 1903 has also been suggested as the year of the establishment of the military intelligence. [5]
During the Cold War, the military intelligence as well as the intelligence section of the police spied against and recorded the activities of the Danish left wing, communists and pacifists, among the later organisations and personalities in the Danish chapter of the War Resisters' International, the Danish Campaign against Nuclear Weapons and the Conscientious Objectors' Union. This is documented in the Danish Judge Advocate General's Corps: Report on the occasion of the examination by the Judge Advocates of certain matters related to Defence Intelligence Service and Conscientious Objectors' Union etc. in the period 1970-1978 (1999). [6]
In August 2020 Lars Findsen was relieved of duty "for the time being" and two other employees were also suspended after it was revealed the intelligence agency had broken laws and misled the intelligence watchdog. [7] The agency had been spying on Danish citizens from 2014 to 2020. [7] An investigation was launched after whistleblowers handed over information. [7] The agency is accused of failing to investigate espionage in the armed services and of obtaining and passing on information about Danish citizens. [7] The agency is also accused of concealing offences and failing to inform the intelligence agency watchdog. [7] In December 2021, Findsen and three others were arrested and charged with leaking top secret information. [8] On 13 December 2021, five days after Findsen's arrest a commission tasked with investigating the allegations leading to the suspensions cleared the intelligence agency and its employees of any wrongdoing. [9]
Defence minister Trine Bramsen said an investigation would be launched into the claims. [7] She said the investigation would be carried out "the utmost seriousness" and "It is important for me to emphasise that the fight against the threats against Denmark must not stop while the investigation is carried out". [7] Kaspar Wester of Danish news site OLFI said to BBC: "The supervisory agency suggests that Lars Findsen has played an active part in withholding information or even deliberately misinforming the supervisory agency. The fact that the head of the Danish Military Intelligence Service is a willing participant in circumventing the agency tasked with holding his own intelligence service legally accountable is mind-blowing and must be deeply concerning to the minister." [7] Wester said the investigation would aim to discover how the scandal had happened and how long it had gone on for. [7]
In May 2021, it was reported that DDIS collaborated with National Security Agency (NSA) to wiretap on fellow EU members and leaders, [10] [11] leading to wide backlash among EU countries and demands for explanation from Danish and American governments. [12] As of August 2022 two of those charged had their charges dismissed, while Findsen remains charged and suspended. [13] [14]
The FE operates the Sandargargardan station near Copenhagen to monitor data-based communication. Communication via submarine cables, among other things, is evaluated here. [15]
The Bornholm radar station (Flyradarstation Bornholm (FRS Bornholm) and Flyverdetachment Bornholm (FLD Bornholm) is officially operated by the Danish Armed Forces Flyvevåbnet on the Baltic Sea island for air surveillance. The S-723 radar is a 3D reconnaissance radar system with a range of 500 km.
Four organizations, independent of each other, do various auditing of FE for unauthorised conduct.
The service is directly responsible to the Defence Minister, which on behalf of the Government of Denmark supervises the overall actives and conduct of the service. The DDIS is, as Danish Security Intelligence Service is, subject to regularly control by the TET which is controlled by the Ministry of Justice. It is also subject to Folketingets control committee, which was established by law no. 378 of July 6, 1988. And finally, as all Danish government agencies, FE is subject to control by Rigsrevisionen (Government audit committee), to ensure that the money granted to the institution is spent as Folketinget has decided.
The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for foreign and domestic intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, specializing in a discipline known as signals intelligence (SIGINT). The NSA is also tasked with the protection of U.S. communications networks and information systems. The NSA relies on a variety of measures to accomplish its mission, the majority of which are clandestine. The NSA has roughly 32,000 employees.
The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) is the public-service department of New Zealand charged with promoting New Zealand's national security by collecting and analysing information of an intelligence nature. The GCSB is considered to be New Zealand's most powerful intelligence agency, and has been alleged to have conducted more espionage and data collection than the country's primary intelligence agency, the less funded NZSIS. This has at times proven controversial, although the GCSB does not have the baggage of criticism attached to it for a perceived failure to be effective like the NZSIS does. The GCSB is considered an equivalent of GCHQ in the United Kingdom or the NSA in the United States.
The Norwegian Armed Forces is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the Home Guard, and Norwegian Cyber Defence Force as well as several joint departments.
The United Kingdom – United States of America Agreement is a multilateral agreement for cooperation in signals intelligence between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The alliance of intelligence operations is also known as the Five Eyes. In classification markings this is abbreviated as FVEY, with the individual countries being abbreviated as AUS, CAN, NZL, GBR, and USA, respectively.
Claus Hjort Frederiksen is a Danish politician of the Venstre party, who served as the Danish Minister for Defence from 2016 to 2019, and as Minister for Finance from 2015 to 2016, having previously served in that position from 2009 to 2011, as member of the first Løkke Rasmussen Cabinet. From 2001 to 2009, he was Minister of Employment in the first, second, and third cabinets of Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Kastellet is a citadel located in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is one of the best preserved fortresses in Northern Europe. It is constructed in the form of a pentagon with bastions at its corners. Kastellet was continuous with the ring of bastioned ramparts which used to encircle Copenhagen but of which only the ramparts of Christianshavn remain today.
Politiets Efterretningstjeneste (PET) is the national security and intelligence agency of Denmark. The agency focuses solely on national security, and foreign intelligence operations are handled by the Danish Defence Intelligence Service, the foreign intelligence service administered by the Danish Royal Defense.
The Danish Ministry of Defence is a ministry in the Danish government. It is charged with overall planning, development, and strategic guidance of the entire area of responsibility of the Minister of Defence, including the Danish Armed Forces and the emergency management sector. It is Denmark's ministry of defence and serves as the secretariat of the Danish Defence Minister.
New Zealand's intelligence agencies and units have existed, with some interruption, since World War II. At present, New Zealand's intelligence community has approximately 550 employees, and has a combined budget of around NZ$145 million.
The Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz is an Arab nationalist and separatist insurgent group which advocates the secession of an area in southern Iran including all of Khuzestan Province and Bushehr Province and parts of Ilam Province, Hormozgan Province, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province from Iran and the establishment of an Arab state, a goal which it is attempting to achieve by waging a direct and violent conflict against Iran. The claimed area is shown in the group’s logo as well.
Signals intelligence by alliances, nations and industries comprises signals intelligence (SIGINT) gathering activities by national and non-national entities; these entities are commonly responsible for communications security (COMSEC) as well.
Frank Søholm Grevil is a Danish chemical engineer and former intelligence agent. He held the rank of major in Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste, the Danish military intelligence agency. On 22 February 2004 he acted as a whistle blower leaking classified information about the FE's assessment of the possibility of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The analysis of FE concluded that there was no certain information about operational weapons of mass destruction. This was not aligned with the statement of Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to the Danish parliament that there was evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
The Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) is a joint service unit under the Ministry of Defence, tasked with purchase, service and support of equipment within the Danish Defence. It used to be known as the Danish Defence Material Service.
The Joint Arctic Command is a direct Level II authority in the Danish Defence. Joint Arctic Command's primary mission in peacetime is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The command also handles tasks such as fisheries inspection, search and rescue (SAR), patient transport and other tasks that support the civil society. In short, the Joint Arctic Command handles military tasks, coast guard duties and disaster response - all in one organisation.
The practice of mass surveillance in the United States dates back to wartime monitoring and censorship of international communications from, to, or which passed through the United States. After the First and Second World Wars, mass surveillance continued throughout the Cold War period, via programs such as the Black Chamber and Project SHAMROCK. The formation and growth of federal law-enforcement and intelligence agencies such as the FBI, CIA, and NSA institutionalized surveillance used to also silence political dissent, as evidenced by COINTELPRO projects which targeted various organizations and individuals. During the Civil Rights Movement era, many individuals put under surveillance orders were first labelled as integrationists, then deemed subversive, and sometimes suspected to be supportive of the communist model of the United States' rival at the time, the Soviet Union. Other targeted individuals and groups included Native American activists, African American and Chicano liberation movement activists, and anti-war protesters.
Trine Bramsen is a Danish politician of the Social Democrats, who has been a member of the Folketing since 2011. She served as minister of transport from February to December 2022 and minister of defence from 2019 until February 2022.
Operation Dunhammer was an internal investigation conducted by the Danish Defence Intelligence Service which concluded the agency cooperated with the American National Security Agency to wiretap senior politicians, government officials, and government entities of certain European Union countries.
Lars Johan Findsen is a Danish jurist and former civil servant who served as chief of the Danish Defence Intelligence Service (DDIS) from 2015 to 2020 when he was relieved of duty due to concerns from the regulatory body of the DDIS.
A month ago, PET's investigation culminated when Lars Findsen and three others were arrested on December 8 and charged with leaking top secret information.