MI5 has to "pare back" its focus from counter-terrorism to alleged hostile states, including Russia, China and Iran, the UK security agency’s director general Ken McCallum was cited by The Times as saying.
"The agency will have to make uncomfortable choices in the face of more sophisticated threats from nation states," he said, adding that the MI5 is forced to spend its "finite capacity" on these countries’ "state activity."
“In effect, we had the 20-to-30-year holiday from that kind of big player... sophisticated states in serious conflict with each other. It’s back, I’m afraid," McCallum argued.
Western media have repeatedly made accusations against Russia without giving any evidence, which was the case, for example, in Moscow’s alleged interference in the 2020 US presidential election.
Media earlier reported that the extension of a fisheries agreement between Russia and the Faroe Islands, which are part of Denmark on the rights of autonomy, would allegedly allow Moscow to "spy on the West" through this territory.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova states in this regard that such claims are aimed at destroying relations between Moscow and Torshavn, and come as part of the West's campaign against Russia.