MI6 is top European foreign intelligence service, finds peer review

UK’s Secret Intelligence Service praised for playing long game and having ‘a taste for dirty tricks’

MI6 has been ranked as the most powerful foreign intelligence service in Europe ahead of France and the Netherlands, according to a peer review.

The British intelligence agency scored 251 points in the research and was commended for its expertise in recruiting high-level informants and penetrating the ruling elites in Russia, China, Iran and Turkey, according to the review by 60 professionals from 25 countries.

France’s General Directorate for External Security (DGSE) finished in second place with 169 points for its global reach and operational capability, the Times reported.

The Netherlands, Ukraine and Germany complete the top five, while Slovakia’s service was rated the worst.

The review was conducted by French magazine L’Express, which contacted people in state services de renseignements (intelligence services) to rate their counterparts in the western-allied countries.

Britain was the first to warn Ukraine about the likelihood of the Russian invasion that began in February 2022, and has been a staunch ally of Kyiv.

Ralph Goff, a former chief of operations for Europe and Eurasia at the CIA, told the magazine: “The British are in the lead on the Ukrainian file. We are right behind them.”

Robert Gorelick, a former CIA station chief, added: “The United Kingdom has by far the strongest secret services in Europe. MI6 is extraordinary.”

Last year, Blaise Metreweli became the first woman to lead MI6 , taking over from Sir Richard Moore.

A former head of the DGSE said: “The British have the ability to play the long game, investing in sources over a 10-year horizon, somewhat like the Russians. And they have a taste for dirty tricks.”

The DGSE, which was depicted in the French series The Bureau, was rated as one of the world’s best in counter-terrorism.

The service is renowned for its clandestine operations to “eliminate” people deemed a threat to French security. François Hollande, the former French president, spoke publicly about ordering at least 40 operations to assassinate “high value” targets in the Middle East and Africa, according to a 2017 book.

A Polish intelligence executive told L’Express: “It is the only service in continental Europe with near-global reach.

“They combine technical collection, human intelligence and operational action capabilities.”