Spying scandal in Estonia

Hermann Simm, who until 2006 worked as director of the department for state secrets at the Estonian defence ministry, was arrested on Sunday in Estonia. He is suspected of having spied for the Russian secret service. The daily newspaper Postimees voices concern about Estonia's reputation among its NATO allies. "This embarrassing affair has compromised Estonia in the eyes of all its NATO partners. ... Simm, who as a high-ranking official at the ministry of defence had access to highly confidential NATO material, was a windfall for the Russian secret service. ... These events come as a great shock ... for Estonia. The position of the defence ministry, where not only information about Estonia but also about NATO was supposed to be kept secure, has [also] been compromised. It is likely to be a long time before Estonia can restore its credibility."

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