The director of the British security service MI5, Andrew Parker, warned today about Russia's "increasingly aggressive" methods in confronting the West.
In an interview with the Guardian, the first given by a current head of MI5 in the history of the service, Parker said that Moscow "conducts an increasingly aggressive foreign policy, including propaganda, espionage, subervision and cyber attacks".
"Russia today is operating across Europe and in the UK. It is MI5's job to stand in the way of that," Parker said.
In his opinion, Russia is increasingly taking an anti-Western stance and "resorts to non-traditional methods for these purposes".
"We can see that in its actions in Ukraine and Syria," believes the director of the British security service.
He stated that "Russia has been a hidden threat for decades" and that it now has more and more methods at its disposal to achieve those goals.
Regarding the decision to agree to an interview with the Guardian, Parker said that in a changing world, the service must also change. "We have a responsibility to talk about our work and to explain what we do," Parker said.
He stated that in the last three years, 12 planned terrorist attacks by jihadists have been thwarted, as well as that there are about 3.000 "violent extremists, mostly British" living in Great Britain.
Parker also rejected claims that Britain's exit from the European Union would affect cooperation between British and European intelligence services.
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