Estonia has been more successful in countering Russian espionage than any other NATO or EU nation, according to a November 2019 report by the Estonian International Centre for Defence and Security.
Based on public data, Estonia has convicted 20 people for various espionage activities, with sentences ranging from around two to 16 years behind bars.
While many states conduct counter-espionage activities away from public eyes, Estonia has decided to go public with arrests and convictions, which the authors Ivo Juurvee and Lavly Perling argue, has served as a deterrent to any other potential recruits.
To use the Estonian precedent, countries need to “understand the seriousness of the problem, fix the legal framework, acquire the know-how, and build the capacity of law enforcement agencies,” according to the report.
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