A L’Express survey named MI6 the best intelligence agency in Europe
The British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) ranked first in a survey of European foreign intelligence services conducted by the French weekly L’Express. According to the publication, MI6 scored 251 points, while France’s General Directorate for External Security (DGSE) scored 169.
For the ranking, L’Express surveyed 60 current and former intelligence officers from European countries, as well as representatives of the U.S. CIA and Israel’s Mossad. Respondents were asked to confidentially name the five best foreign intelligence services. Among the participants were 17 current or former heads of intelligence agencies.
Alexandra Saviana, deputy editor of L’Express, who specializes in defense and intelligence issues, stated that she was not surprised by MI6’s first-place finish, but was surprised by the significant gap between it and the DGSE. According to the publication, the British agency’s reputation is largely based on its long-standing experience in recruiting and managing valuable human intelligence sources.
For more breaking news, follow the UA.News Telegram channel.
One former DGSE employee, in a comment to the magazine, noted that British intelligence knows how to work with sources over many years. At the same time, another former intelligence officer expressed skepticism about the ranking itself, emphasizing that the effectiveness of an intelligence service depends on the quality of the agents it has.
L’Express also links the strengthening of MI6’s reputation to warnings that Russia, an aggressor state, was preparing a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to The Guardian, the British agency worked in conjunction with the U.S. CIA, while its French and German counterparts remained skeptical about the likelihood of an attack until the very end.
MI6 has close, long-standing ties with the CIA within the broader Five Eyes intelligence-sharing framework, which includes the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The article also recalls the criticism directed at MI6 on the eve of the 2003 Iraq War for relying on unreliable intelligence regarding alleged Iraqi chemical weapons.
