BELGRADE (Reuters) – Slovenia’s state security service has arrested two men suspected of spying for Russian military intelligence, the Ljubljana-based Delo newspaper reported on Monday, citing sources.
The suspects, one of whom has citizenship of a South American country, operated under assumed identities from a rented office in the Bezigrad neighbourhood of the capital Ljubljana, the report said.
It said the two suspects have been charged with espionage for Russia’s GRU military intelligence service and using false documents. If convicted, they could be jailed for up to eight years.
The Slovenian Intelligence Agency said the information gathered was “classified and therefore the agency does not make it public nor does it publicly comment on it.
“The Agency regularly informs the main bodies of the national security system on intelligence activities carried out by foreign entities and cooperates … closely with Slovenian security authorities as well as with the EU and NATO authorities and services,” it said in an emailed response to Reuters.
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; editing by Alison Williams and Mark Heinrich)
