The Political Committee of the EP and his chair Lord Nicholas BETHEL, exchanged with a dissident journalist on the Soviet activities in community country. Stanislav Alexandrovich Levchenko (Russian: Станислав Александрович Левченко) is a former Russian KGB agent who defected to the United States in 1979. He reviews with the MEPs the different disinformation employed abroad by the Soviet Union. The videoconference facility has been made available by the United States information service.

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BETHELL, Nicholas (EPP-DE, UK, The Lord)

Soviet activities in community country: exchange of views via videoconference with Stanislav Levchenko, a dissident Soviet journalist - Political Committee

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, State information agency television down in Washington, D.C., is all your transmitting via satellite. Isn't that song Peterson's Strasbourg, France? This is the United States information. Tell us, though, that in Washington, D.C., transmitting via satellite. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Listen, I just want to say a few words before Mr. Levchenko comes on the screen about him, the background. He is in a room. I don't know where. Somewhere in the Washington area, he was a major in the KGB. He knew. He's 42 years old. His father was a major general in a Soviet Military Research Institute.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Stanislav Levchenko is 42 years old. His father was a major general in a Soviet military research institute. In 1958 he studied Asian studies at Moscow University.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, And from 1965 to 67, he was a consultant for the Soviet Peace Committee, which was affiliated to the World Peace Council, an organisation which was mentioned several times in yesterday's debate on Soviet activities in community country. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, In 1966 to 67, He trained as an intelligence officer of the KGB, in particular, information, and this is something that Washington journalists may wish to raise for a possible assignment in Britain in the event of an imminent outbreak of war.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, He was trained to carry out an operation in Britain for the eventuality of war being imminent. In 1972, he graduated from KGB school. In 1974, He joined the Soviet magazine New Times, which is published in a number of languages throughout the world, a Soviet foreign policy journal. It was agreed, nevertheless, that he would go abroad as a correspondent for new times and work also for the KGB. In February 75, he arrived in Tokyo. And in October 79, he defected to the Soviet, to the to the American authorities and was taken to the United States. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, He has been in hiding ever since. He has attended private meetings. In July eighty two, he gave evidence to the House of Representatives Committee on Intelligence. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, As far as I know, he has never been to Western Europe and has never spoken in such a press conference before. As far as I know. In August 1981, he was sentenced to death in absentia by a Soviet military court and for that reason, his whereabouts have never been made public. And that is the reason why he could not come to Europe to attend this meeting and why it was decided instead, instead to send it by satellite. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, I should point out that this facility has been made available by the United States information service because I did consult the American government as well as the governments of the 10 and other governments in the preparation of my report and the American government offered to lay on the satellite link. That's all I have to say by way of background. I believe Mr. Levchenko will be coming on the line, on the screen in a few minutes

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, If anyone would like to ask a question about the background in 30 seconds from now. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Hhe will not make an opening statement. So we'll go straight into questions. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Hello, Mr. Levchenko. Can you hear me? Can you hear me, Mr. Levchenko? 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Hello, Mr. Levchenko. This is Nicholas Bethel in Strasbourg. Can you hear me? 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, How are you? I'm just fine, thank you. So are you. Not too bad. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, We're waiting to make sure that everyone, I hear you in about half a minute, as I understand it, we will go ahead with questions.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, I will begin the conference by asking you a few questions myself. Two or three questions. Yes. We had our debate yesterday after I spoke to you on the telephone. And my report, which you have read, was passed by the European Parliament, by, I believe, one hundred and thirty six votes to 62 with nine abstentions. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, Oh, it's quite amazing.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, There was some a number of sceptical comments they made on the report and in particular doubt was cast on my assertion that there is Soviet finance for the world peace Council. And this will come up, no doubt, in our discussion. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, And a minority of members of the European Parliament felt that the report was exaggerated. Or indeed that it was totally and utterly incorrect. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, It looked like, you know, the journalistic audience today will be relatively large.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, There are a fair number here, about some 40, 50, but about 20, 30, 40 or 20. It's quite a number 20. And some colleagues from the European Parliament. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, We can see you very clearly, but you can't see us. All right. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, We're again checking levels level now. Is it all right? 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Yes, that sounds fine, that sounds fine here. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, Yeah, I can hear you also very well.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, We'll begin now, then, Mr. Levchenko with a couple of questions about the report. In the report, I mentioned a number of Soviet front organisations which provide information on foreign policy in Western Europe, not in a direct way, but in a clandestine way, because these organisations claim to be independent. But in reality, they receive assistance, including financial assistance from the Soviet government. You were a consultant in 1965, 67 with the Soviet Peace Committee. I wonder if you can say something about that work that you did with particular reference to the world peace Council bearing in mind that a number of colleagues at the European Parliament are members of the World Peace Council.

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, Yes, I, was with, usort of the peace committee for a few years since the 1960s. There is no doubt that the Soviet peace committee totally controls the World Peace Council. On many occasions, a witness to the. I would hope it is being done. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, Number one, the fact that number one, actually, number one person in the World Peace Council is the representative of the Soviet Peace Committee there, who actually works for the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which is one of the major part of the Soviet Communist Party decision making mechanism. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, Any movements by the Leaders of the World Peace Council are being discussed with the Soviet representative and only after his approval and then they go ahead. The President of the GOP's Council of the Indian Communist. Mr. Ramesh Chandra is also naturally in daily contact with the state representative with WPEC and even Mr. Ramesh Chandra will never do any step without consulting with Moscow. He's under total Soviet control by the international department and without Soviet without massive, solid financial support. WGC will never be able to exist. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I witnessed a variety of discussions between the living users of the Services Committee on the personnel screen problems of ...., because nobody can be hired as a headquarters employee of the World Peace Council again without consultation with Moscow. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Could you give any details of the way in which the World Peace Council is financed? 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I was not dealing directly with the finances, but what I know absolutely for sure that majority of participants of any so-called conferences or Congresses or other types of gathering by the of the group is Council. They ran out of the facilities for sure, for such conferences and the travel expenses by the parties, by the most, the participants are being paid directly or indirectly by the Soviet Union through the wealthiest Council. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, How does the World Peak Peace Council get its money itself? How does it receive its money? 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I do not know the technical details of this thing, but I know at the same time that somehow Soviets are transferring money to certain accounts in. I would assume in in in in in in court in Helsinki and probably in other countries, too. But why, for instance, of its tendency to pay terrible expenses of over a majority of participants of meetings or conferences or royalties Council because it enables the Soviets in many cases not to spend hard currency. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, Speaking about of Soviet Peace Committee. I have to mention the fact that this organisation, which as Soviet leaders claim is a public organisation representing the public opinion of the Soviet Union. His staff, about 20, 25 dual. And at least three or four of them are full time undercover KGB officers, intelligence officers who are recruiting agents of influence amongst the members of the foreign peace organisations. For instance, in my times, the chief of the Maine Department of State is going to Department of with countries was a KGB colonel who formerly was a working undercover in the Soviet embassy in Israel. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Could we could could we draws to a close on that point and then I'll ask you about something else. So anything else you wanted to say about the world peace Council? 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, No, I think that's right. I think they've pointed out my oh, my thought. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, I wanted to take you back to 1966, 67, when you, according to your biographical notes, went on a training course as an intelligence officer, illegal, preparing for a possible assignment in Britain. Could you tell us about this training and what that assignment was going to be?

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, They. Soviet army. Oh, here's a system of. Reserve duty officers. And we're talking about probably a few million of people. All of them have a variety of military professions. But, uh, one of them is a so-called. Reserve illegal intelligence officer. A member of the. Army intelligence unit, army. I mean, as a unit of these kinds of officers will be sent by the Soviet army in most of the countries of the world in case of a as they say, a very serious aggravation of international situations when the situation will be as bad as it possibly can become close to to the war situation.

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I personally, because in the in the school, I was studying English language and the time my knowledge of English was not too bad was picked up for such training. And for three years. For about thirty or forty five days a year. I was going through the training to become a reserve intelligence officer. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, In case of a very serious aggravation of the international situation, my orders would be to get somehow into the territory of Great Britain, into the area of one of the largest ports of red deliverable and conduct intel intelligence on the stage of readiness of a nuclear strike forces which I think possibly can be installed in the area of Liverpool. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I was supposed to get there by one of the following ways you the parachuted from the Soviet spy aeroplane or submarine or if they would have enough time. I was supposed to fly by commercial flights through Europe, changing passports. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I know that the number of the officers who are undergoing such training, at least in the 1960s and 1970s, 70s, was quite larger. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Were all the people on your course directed, as it were, towards Great Britain or were they directed to other West European countries? 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, There was no such thing. Like horse. Lord battle, this training goes in a very discreet way. And each session with the instructors just face to face sessions. There's no other people present at all. And such training actually is being conducted in the departments. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, Usually, morale is high rise apartment building buildings in the most of the major cities of the Soviet Union. As I understand, naturally, these departments are clandestine. Meeting places or whatever we can call it, are assigned to the Soviet Ministry of Defence. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, I'll just ask you one more question, Mr. Levchenko, and then ask the journalists to contribute. I want to ask you about some Soviet training for national liberation organisations or terrorist organisations. You mentioned in your testimony two years ago Soviet training for the PLO and for Angolan forces at two places, 20 miles from one, 20 miles from Moscow and the other in the Crimea. Can you tell us something about those training places? Tell us whether you ever went there, where they are and what exactly is done.

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I personally did not visit these places if I knew about their existence and their location from one high ranking officer in the Soviet operation, so there is a committee which is in the front of the international department of the Central Committee of the coming out party of the Soviet Union. And also, I I knew about one of the facilities from one of the KGB officers. I know at the same time that. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, The students who are undergoing training for guerrilla warfare in the Soviet Union are either go to these facilities directly from their countries or into speaking about peel off naturally from most of them come from Middle East countries. Logan's come from big guys. But at the same time. I do not know exact address where it is going on, but I know that a certain number of the students of the Lumumba Friendship University, which is the Soviet University, or organised specially for training students from the Third World countries.

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, So anyway, KGB does screen them during, let's say, the first year of this, turning in the Lumumba University. Recruit some of them. And, put them through certain secret training in Moscow, so that those students have to leave their dormitories, no, for so many days, eight days a year, which naturally can cause suspicion from their peers. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Right. I'll now ask if any journalist would like to ask a question. So anyone who'd like to ask question.

SOUNDBITE (Orignal), Journalist How many press conferences and television television interviews have you given since you defected in 1979?

SOUNDBITE (Orignal), Journalist Well, I'll repeat it. I asked how many electroplate at one point, how many press conferences and television interviews have you given since you defected since 1979 and when? 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, The journalist asked how many televised press conferences or other press conferences have you addressed since you defected? 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I never counted the number of them. But I think probably more than one dozen. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, All in the United States?

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, Llet me not specify or do it places with my private press conference. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Are there any other questions?

SOUNDBITE (Orignal), Journalist The gentleman from France asked why you left your journalistic profession and defected to the West and do the work you are doing now.

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I did not leave my journalistic profession. I leave hat they what they, uh. Get myself divorced from is from the, uh, KGB profession. I am sometimes, uh, writing now. I am working on my book and I have plans for some more writing. What I am doing now. I am consultant here for a couple of them think tanks in the United States. and. I do some writing for them. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Any other questions? I guess.

SOUNDBITE (Orignal), Journalist Can you be more specific about these sort of operations you would have carried out in Great Britain had you been sent there in the event of a major international crisis? 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I did hear the question

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, Specifically, the task of myself, in case I will I would be a delivery to the Liverpool area, was to screen the Port of Liverpool as thoroughly as it's possible. I was supposed to find out where there are some nuclear submarines in the port and if there are some which which on which stage of combat readiness they are. For instance, where the missiles are already on board of the ships or submarines are going through some prophylactic repair

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I was supposed to visit a few bars frequented by seamen and collect some information from conversation them or just an off listening conversation between themselves. At a certain point, I was supposed to take some seamen or other military person as a prisoner of war and interrogate him. 

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, During my training I was asking my senior instructor, instructor and what I would do to that person after, you know, he's interrogated. Kind of shyly the colonel who was my instructor then told me, you know, you know what they do with a pure double use when you can't deliver them to the to the prisoners camp. Now, I read this more or less vague instruction is that I was supposed to just to dispose. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Nicholas BETHEL, Is there a question?

SOUNDBITE (Orignal), Journalist Yes. Mr. Levchenko, with all respect, your accent would not place you very well as a citizen of Liverpool. How long were you prepared and trained to pass yourself off as a local while you were going around these dockside bars? Your accent sounds certainly to me more Russian than it does Liverpool. I was wondering if you could tell me what sort of training you got said when you got to Liverpool. You would be able to pass yourself off as a citizen of that city.

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, I had a so-called legends or the story which was roughly speaking saying that I was born somewhere in Harbin in northern China. The place where before the Bolshevik Revolution and the Bolshevik Revolution, many thousands of Russians lived. And many of them didn't want to get back to Russia after the boy Bolshevik Revolution.

SOUNDBITE (Englsih) Stanislav Levchenko, There supposedly I was studying the Japanese language in school. That explains my knowledge of Japanese and it's endemic. It explained I was studying English. But these kind of background explains the reason why my English is not native language and the fact that I was speaking English with heavy action. They were saying that there are enough of people of Russian nationality in Great Britain not really to get somebody. I'm always suspicious about me. 