Police in Oslo have arrested a Norwegian citizen suspected of illegally passing on information to a Russian intelligence officer.
The man who the PST security police gave no name on Monday, was suspected of “damaging vital national interests”, which could carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
The arrest took place in a restaurant in the Norwegian capital on Saturday during a meeting of the two, PST spokesman Martin Bernsen told Reuters news agency.
“He [the Norwegian man] was arrested in the presence of the intelligence officer, “said Bernsen.
Asked if the intelligence officer was not arrested because the person was a diplomat, Bernsen declined to comment.
“We are focusing on the Norwegian man,” he said.
The arrested man denies any wrongdoing, said his lawyer, Marianne Darre-Naess, following a hearing in the district court in Oslo.
The security police are asking the court to detain the man for four weeks.
Last year, Frode Berg, a retired Norwegian border inspector, was sentenced to 14 years in prison in Moscow after a court found him guilty of spying on Russian nuclear submarines.
NATO member Norway normally has good relations with neighbors Russia, with whom it shares a short land border.
But relations have grown since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and sparked a pro-Russia uprising in eastern Ukraine.
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