Experts say that Britain and France have strong spy agencies; Germany's is competent but afraid to level with its public; the rest are relatively weak, and there is no Europe-wide spy agency.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I don't know if the European Union contributes a great deal to espionage. At the union level, they talk about commerce and privacy. But to keep citizens safe, that remains a responsibility back in national capitals.
Europeans don't like to talk about intelligence, and they often pretend their countries don't spy.
I've always wanted to be a spy, and frankly I'm a little surprised that British intelligence has never approached me.
We, Russia, are prepared to work with others. I am convinced that stability and security in Europe cannot be considered without taking Russia into account.
As for the role of France and Germany: French politics is often more self-confident then German politics due to the catastrophe in the first half of the last century. If Berlin and Paris don't agree, then it is difficult to make progress in Europe.
Since real spies are so good, you never really know what actual spying is. But I do think spying is a lot more dangerous than we are led to believe.
There will always be spies. We have to have them. Without them we wouldn't have got Osama bin Laden - it took us years, but it happened.
France has a very important relationship with Germany. But that does not mean that we agree about everything or that two of our universities or companies are not going to compete.
France and Germany have the manufacturing and skill base which is useful to us. France is our dependable strategic partner.
From the outside, the CIA seems pretty exotic, but from the inside, it's a big, bureaucratic place. Think 'post office with spies.'
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