NATO appoints head of intelligence

(Baonghean.vn) - NATO has just appointed Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven, former Deputy Director of the German Federal Intelligence Agency (BND), as the first person to head the alliance's intelligence sector. This new role aims to better assess and coordinate intelligence activities among the alliance's members.

NATO's intelligence gathering and assessment processes have long relied heavily on the United States. Photo: dpa.

On October 21, NATO officials announced that Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had appointed Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven, a German national, as Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security Affairs.

This new position was developed to fill a gap in NATO's intelligence gathering and assessment processes, which have long relied heavily on the United States.

The proposal was initially put forward as a way to improve intelligence gathering on Russian military activities, but it also included analyzing and sharing intelligence on terrorist threats. Officials believe Freytag von Loringhoven is likely to focus on higher-level intelligence sharing regarding the strategy and operations of the so-called Islamic State (IS), rather than just details about the tactics of specific individuals seeking to infiltrate Europe.

Freytag von Loringhoven will oversee both civilian intelligence analysts who provide information to the Secretary-General and NATO ambassadors, as well as analysts working on NATO's military committee.

Von Loringhoven, 59 (left), is a German diplomat currently serving as ambassador to the Czech Republic. Photo: Twitter.

Von Loringhoven, 59, is a German diplomat currently serving as ambassador to the Czech Republic. He is scheduled to step down from this position at the end of this year. He previously served two terms in the political section of the German Embassy in Moscow, and from 2007 to 2010 as Deputy Director of the BND.

Phu Binh

(According to DW)