Norwegian Intelligence Service

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.

Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS)
TypeGovernment agency
IndustryIntelligence agency
Founded1915 
HeadquartersOslo, Norway
Area served
Norway
ParentNorwegian Armed Forces
Websitehttps://forsvaret.no/organisasjon/etterretningstjenesten (In Norwegian.)

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, Through Stay-behind, The CIA finally conquered their mistrust of 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.

The two ravens on the coat of arms represent Huginn and Muninn ("Thought" and "Mind", the two ravens that bring information to the Norse god Odin. The red flower is thought to be either an Olaf's Rose or a sub rosa reference, perhaps both. The Olaf rose is a national symbol of Norway and sub rosa is a Latin term referring to confidentiality and secrecy.

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:

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
Main article: E 14 (Norway)

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

See also

References
  1. Etterretningstjenesten Archived 2014-01-08 at the Wayback Machine EOS-utvalget. Retrieved 30 August 2013
  2. Njølstad p.395
  3. Krokfjord, Harald S. Klungtveit Arve Bartnes Torgeir P. (29 August 2013). "Hysj-granskerne slo til to ganger på tre uker". Dagbladet.no.
  4. Sætre, Jonas (29 August 2013). "EOS-utvalget slo til mot Lutvann". NRK.
  5. Stormark, Kjetil (29 August 2013). "Kilder om E-tjenesten: - Bak denne døra har de skjult hemmelig arkiv med 400 samfunnstopper". Dagbladet.no.
  6. Ruud, Torgeir P. Krokfjord Hans-Martin Thømt (29 August 2013). "- Må undersøke om e-tjenesten bryter loven". Dagbladet.no.
  7. Ny inspeksjon hos E-tjenesten "... EOS-utvalget tilbake i lokalene for å følge opp ..."
  8. Han vart sjefen for Norges E14-spioner - http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/artikkel.php?artid=10021746
  9. https://mre.no/ny-etterretningssjef-tiltrer-tysdag/Type/NTB/19.1.100092
  10. "E-tjenesten: - Nordmenn har fått terroropplæring". Dagbladet.no. 1 July 2012.
  11. Steenstrup, Bjørn, ed. (1973). "Berg, Johan". Hvem er hvem? (in Norwegian). Oslo: Aschehoug. p. 46. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  12. Riste, Olav; Moland, Arnfinn (1997). «Strengt hemmelig» Norsk etterretningsteneste 1945–1970 (in Norwegian). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. p. 341. ISBN 82-00-12769-9.
  13. Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "Vilhelm Evang". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
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