Stig Wennerstrom, Swedish Soviet spy

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Soviet spy Stig Wennerstrom, a Swedish air force officer who supplied Moscow with military secrets for 15 years in Sweden’s biggest Cold War espionage scandal, has died.

He was 99. Wennerstrom, code named ‘The Eagle’ by his Soviet spy masters, was convicted of four counts of treason in 1964 for revealing classified information of neutral Sweden, the United States and Nato. He was pardoned and released in 1974 after authorities said the information he had obtained during his time as a spy was obsolete.The Wennerstrom case shocked Sweden, a non-aligned country wedged between Nato and the Soviet bloc, whose defence forces during the Cold War were geared toward resisting a Red Army invasion.Wennerstrom confessed to having worked for the Russians for 15 years, including between 1952 and 1957 when he was an air attache at the Swedish Embassy in Washington.He also worked as an air attache in Moscow from 1948 to 1952.He transmitted Swedish defence secrets, such as missile plans and air defence control systems, to the Soviets – information that could have been crucial for a military invasion.He also revealed Swedish-US military contacts, highly sensitive given the country’s official policy of neutrality.Sweden’s security police, Sapo, suspected Wennerstrom had spied for Nazi Germany during World War II, and later offered his services to Moscow.They kept him under surveillance for years, but could not find enough evidence to prosecute him.The breakthrough came in 1963 when his housemaid, who was working for Sapo, found photographs of secret documents in his attic.Wennerstrom was arrested later that year on a bridge in central Stockholm.For years, Swedes grappled with why Wennerstrom, born to an upper class family in Stockholm, would betray his country to the Soviets.Experts do not think money was his motivation, because he is not believed to have received any large sums from the Soviets.Some have also ruled out ideology, saying instead that the Soviets had blackmailed him.In his 1972 biography, titled ‘From the Beginning Till the End: Memoirs of a Spy’, Wennerstrom said he was promoting world peace.By providing the Soviets with military secrets from the West, he claimed he was helping maintain the balance of power and averting war.Two years before his death, Wennerstrom said in an interview with Swedish magazine Aret Runt that he did not regret anything.”If I could live my life over again, I am stupid enough to let it be exactly the way it has been so far,” he said.- Nampa-APHe was pardoned and released in 1974 after authorities said the information he had obtained during his time as a spy was obsolete.The Wennerstrom case shocked Sweden, a non-aligned country wedged between Nato and the Soviet bloc, whose defence forces during the Cold War were geared toward resisting a Red Army invasion.Wennerstrom confessed to having worked for the Russians for 15 years, including between 1952 and 1957 when he was an air attache at the Swedish Embassy in Washington.He also worked as an air attache in Moscow from 1948 to 1952.He transmitted Swedish defence secrets, such as missile plans and air defence control systems, to the Soviets – information that could have been crucial for a military invasion.He also revealed Swedish-US military contacts, highly sensitive given the country’s official policy of neutrality.Sweden’s security police, Sapo, suspected Wennerstrom had spied for Nazi Germany during World War II, and later offered his services to Moscow.They kept him under surveillance for years, but could not find enough evidence to prosecute him.The breakthrough came in 1963 when his housemaid, who was working for Sapo, found photographs of secret documents in his attic.Wennerstrom was arrested later that year on a bridge in central Stockholm.For years, Swedes grappled with why Wennerstrom, born to an upper class family in Stockholm, would betray his country to the Soviets.Experts do not think money was his motivation, because he is not believed to have received any large sums from the Soviets.Some have also ruled out ideology, saying instead that the Soviets had blackmailed him.In his 1972 biography, titled ‘From the Beginning Till the End: Memoirs of a Spy’, Wennerstrom said he was promoting world peace.By providing the Soviets with military secrets from the West, he claimed he was helping maintain the balance of power and averting war.Two years before his death, Wennerstrom said in an interview with Swedish magazine Aret Runt that he did not regret anything.”If I could live my life over again, I am stupid enough to let it be exactly the way it has been so far,” he said.- Nampa-AP

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