Ranking names Europe's strongest intelligence service — not Ukraine's, and Latvia comes last
A survey by France's “L'Express” magazine ranks Britain's MI6 as Europe's strongest intelligence service, with Ukraine placing fourth and Latvia finishing last among 21 countries assessed.
French magazine “L'Express” has published a ranking of European intelligence services based on a survey of 60 experts from 25 countries. The evaluation covered both civilian and military intelligence capabilities, including information gathering, agent networks, and the ability to respond to current security challenges. Britain's MI6 was named the strongest service in Europe.
Experts particularly highlighted MI6's ability to recruit high-level agents in hard-to-access countries such as Russia, China, Turkey and Iran. France's intelligence services placed second, followed by the Netherlands in third.
Ukraine ranks fourth
Ukraine's intelligence services earned praise for their capacity to adapt quickly to wartime conditions. The ranking's authors specifically cited operations and strikes linked to Ukrainian intelligence, including attacks inside Russian territory and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, placing Ukraine fourth overall.
Germany came fifth, with its services seen as strong in analytical work but less effective at recruiting agents abroad. Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Poland and Denmark round out the top ten.
Latvia finishes last
Of the 21 countries assessed, Latvia ranked last, behind Austria, Portugal and Lithuania. Among the Baltic states, Estonia scored highest at eighth place, while Lithuania placed 18th.
The ranking's authors note that the assessment is not an absolute measure of intelligence capability, but rather reflects expert perceptions of European countries' intelligence-gathering potential.
