Brussels, 24 October 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Russia's highest-ranking representative to the EU is suspected of espionage, sources in Brussels have told dpa, although he is apparently not being expelled.

Several sources told dpa on Tuesday that the Belgian secret service VSSE believes the diplomat, Kirill Logvinov, does not work solely for the Foreign Ministry but also for the Russian foreign intelligence service SWR.

According to his CV, Logvinov worked at the Russian embassy in Berlin between 2010 and 2014.

The case was reported on Tuesday by the German newspaper Der Spiegel and several other European media outlets, while suspicions about possible spying go back to summer last year.

"We don't comment on that," a spokesperson for the VSSE intelligence agency told dpa in response to a question about what kind of intelligence Logvinov may have had access to.

Espionage is not simply considered to be the covert acquisition of information. Activities in the area of undesired political or social influence are also included in the definition.

This can happen, for example, through the targeted dissemination of false information in the host country.

Logvinov, 48, has been Russia's highest representative to the EU since September 2022. The post of official ambassador has been vacant since Vladimir Chizhov was recalled to his homeland last year after some 17 years as Russia's EU ambassador.

Before that, relations between Brussels and Moscow had sunk to a low point because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

When asked on Tuesday why Logvinov had not been asked to leave the country in view of the suspicion of espionage, EU officials did not give a clear answer.

A spokesman said only that there were measures "to continuously assess the extent of the threat."

Photo: MIA archive