Russian intel has growing interest in Estonia - minister
TALLINN. Aug 9 (Interfax) - Estonia is increasingly a target for Russian intelligence services, the Baltic country's interior minister claimed on Friday.
"Russia's secret collection of intelligence on Estonia is a permanent and aggressive effort because Estonia possesses valuable information, but Estonian security agencies are doing a good job," Ken-Marti Vaher said in a statement.
Earlier on Friday, the court of Estonia's Harju district approved the arrest of Vladimir Veitman, a retired Internal Security Service officer who was detained on Wednesday for alleged spying for Russia.
"We will continue to announce such facts," Vaher said in his statement. "Traitors will be detained, there will be public information on that, and they will be put on trial and punished."
"Estonia's membership in the European Union and NATO and our geopolitical position put us in a situation where hostile intelligence services have permanent and constantly growing interest in Estonia," the minister said.
However, "Estonian security services are strong enough today to fight espionage, expose their operations and bring perpetrators of high treason to justice," he said. "It is not without reason that the Estonian Internal Security Service has for years spoken about Russia's intelligence activities and increasingly frequent attempts to recruit Estonian nationals."
The Internal Security Service chief, Arnold Sinisalu, said earlier on Friday that Veitman had admitted his charge of high treason and handed over to the Estonian state part of the money he had received for his alleged spying.
