Free Play: Foreign Secret Services in Belgium

Belgium is a magnet for foreign secret services. The presence of the EU institutions and NATO alone ensures that many spies are on our soil. During the Cold War, spies who were caught were declared 'persona non grata' and sent back to their country. Today, they are given free rein in Belgium. European summits are tapped and secret NATO files are passed on to the enemy. Foreign intelligence services send students and researchers to our companies and scientific research institutions to gather specialized knowledge. Hard drives full of sensitive information have been stolen from more than ten Belgian high-tech companies in recent years. Another magnet for foreign spies are the terrorists who reside in Belgium. Belgium has played a crucial role in a number of major terrorist files. No wonder that foreign intelligence services are also fighting their war on terror in our country. Foreign spies are also wary of political dissidents in our migrant communities. Intelligence agents at embassies send informants to meetings and anxiously monitor activities within their community. But what do these spies themselves have to hide?