"La DST sur le front de la guerre froide", a new book by former officials of the French DST, Raymond Nart, Jean-François Clair and Michel Guerin, in which they reveal details About the battles waged by French intelligence, especially against the activity of the Soviet Union in France.
The three officials said in their interview with Le Figaro newspaper that French intelligence fought the Cold War "without memory", because some of the French archives were burned in France in 1940, while others were transferred to Germany during World War II, and then after. The defeat of the Nazis was conveyed to Russia before Paris took it back in 1990.
Geran explained that the internal monitoring apparatus made a great effort, with the help of the Americans, to control the internal intelligence work and monitor the activities of Soviet elements on French soil.
Spy operations
The book of former French officials outlined the activities of the Soviet intelligence on French soil, especially those related to the kidnapping or killing of opponents in France, or the implementation of bombings.
Raymond Nart mentioned that the arrest of the French journalist Pierre Charles Pathé in 1979 came after his cooperation with the Soviet intelligence was proven, as he was writing articles and reports that improved the image of the Soviets, and he explained that the political leader François Mitterrand defended him because he is the son of the famous cinematic Charles Pathé, who is politically close to Mitterrand current.
The three officials talked about the existence of strong relations of elements of the French Socialist Party - which was led by Mitterrand - with the Soviet intelligence, and confirmed that President Mitterrand himself was totally refusing to have these suspicious elements travel with him during his visits to the Soviet Union.
"farewell"
In their interview with Le Figaro, intelligence officials mentioned the details of Operation Farewell, which enabled French intelligence to obtain more than 3,000 documents from the Soviet Military-Industrial Committee, along with the names of 215 spies, and said that it was a major operation that marked the last years of the Soviet Union.
According to Michel Guérin, Soviet espionage continued on French territory, despite the expulsion of 83 Soviet diplomats between 1960 and 1990, and indicated that this is a natural thing in the world of intelligence in which officials need constant and continuous vigilance to preserve the security of the country, because espionage continues and will not finish.