Chapter Twelve-THE SECRET WAR IN LUXEMBURG : Nato's Secret Armies by Daniele Ganser

 

THE SECRET WAR IN LUXEMBURG

Of all three Benelux countries Luxemburg is by far the smallest state. Exactly like Belgium and the Netherlands the country was invaded and occupied during the Second World War by the German army. Yet unlike Belgium where a Senate commission had investigated the secret army or unlike the Netherlands where the academic community had researched the network in Luxemburg only a very limited 1 amount of information on the national stay-behind has been made available so far.

As Prime Minister Jacques Santer stressed in front of his parliament on November 14, 1990, in reply to a priority request posed by parliamentarian Charles Goerens of the Democrat Party, small countries also had been integrated into the continental network of secret stay-behind armies. As in Belgium and the Netherlands the idea had been derived from the experiences of the Second World War during which similar networks had existed also in Luxemburg to fight with limited success the German occupation forces. Luxemburg had joined NATO at its foundation in 1949 and thereafter the secret networks were coordinated by the military alliance.

'The word "Gladio" is a term used for the Italian structure. The term used internationally and inside NATO is "Stay-Behind"', the Prime Minister explained the terminology of the secret army to the astonished parliamentarians. "This term reflects the concept of an organisation designed to become active behind the fronts of a military conflict, thus in case of enemy occupation of the territory. This concept has been designed by NATO. The idea has been derived from the experiences of World War Two, during which similar networks were established during occupation periods, thus in a particularly difficult environment and under enemy control.' Never again, the Prime Minister presented the rationale of the secret network, should a country be so ill-prepared before a war and a potential occupation: 'In order to avoid in the future the same preparation gap, it was decided to prepare the foundations of such an organisation already in peace time.'

While certain members of parliament thought that the secret NATO-directed army had violated the sovereignty of European states Prime Minister Santer, who later served as president of the EU commission, claimed that this had not been the case: 'All NATO countries in central Europe have taken part in these preparations, and Luxemburg could not have escaped this international solidarity. Each member state

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was allowed to define its own structures. Thus, although NATO was the initiator and coordinator of the stay-behind network, each country remained the director of its own national component.' By implication the stay-behind network of Luxemburg was also coordinated by NATO and hence took part in the secret meetings of the ACC and the CPC, including the ACC meeting under Belgian General Van Calster in Brussels on October 23 and 24, 1990.

Neither the names nor the number of agents belonging to the secret stay-behind army in Luxemburg were revealed, and the Prime Minister only confirmed that the secret service of Luxemburg, the Service de Renseignements, had been running the network. 'The agents of this stay-behind network were recruited by the secret service on a voluntarily basis and according to criteria relating to their profession and place of living.' The Prime Minister implied that me stay-behind of Luxemburg in the 1980s had also been equipped with the modern Harpoon communication stations: 'These persons, directed through radio communications, had the task to carry out clandestine missions at their own risk and in a context of enemy control of the area.' The Prime Minister did not elaborate on the role of MI6 or CIA in Luxemburg but confirmed that in case of war the secret army would have cooperated with Special Forces, presumably including the British SAS and the US Green Berets. 'The essence of their mission was to inform NATO on the political and military situation of their region, to organise escape routes out of the occupied territory, and to support the special forces of the military.'

In the midst of revelations in Europe that the secret armies had not only been a prudent precaution but also a source of terror, the Prime Minister was eager to emphasise that the 'mission was only to be carried out in case of invasion and enemy occupation of the territory'. Jacques Santer knew that in numerous other countries, including most prominently neighbouring Belgium as well as Italy, Greece, Turkey, France, Spain and Portugal, evidence was surfacing which linked the secret stay-behind soldiers to massacres and other forms of terrorist manipulation of the political climate. Thus he stressed: 'As far as Luxemburg is concerned, it is clear that these missions were really only reserved to the above mentioned forms of assistance to the NATO authorities. The only activities of these persons - and this is the case for the entire time period in which this network has existed - have been limited to the training in preparation of their missions, including the training of how to behave individually in a hostile environment, and how to coordinate efforts with allied countries.'

In the absence of an independent enquiry the words of the Prime Minister were accepted at face value despite the fact that also in Luxemburg a number of parliamentarians felt that it had been a mistake that parliament had never been informed of the secret warfare preparations. The Prime Minister only very briefly touched upon the topic of parliamentary oversight of such a secret structure within the state by dismissing the thought that such parliamentarian oversight would even have been possible. Santer, who himself had been a member of the Luxemburg parliament from 1974 to 1979, supported the assumption, wide- spread in secret services circles, that parliamentarians are too talkative and

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hence unable to keep a secret. Even against their best intentions they would have

betrayed the top-secret network.' It is unnecessary to mention again the secrecy that must characterise such operations by their very nature', Santer told parlia- ment without explaining who had assured civilian control of the secret army. Prime Minister Santer concluded his short speech in front of parliament by admit- ting that also he, and with all likelihood his entire government, had been com- pletely unaware of the scent NATO network within the country. 'I can answer that I did not have any personal knowledge of the existence of the network, and exactly like the Minister of Belgium, I was surprised to learn about its existence. I do not think that another member of the government could have guessed its existence. Obviously, I can not make this declaration also in the name of my predecessors, for I did not have the time to consult them before my answer.'

This was not good enough an explanation for certain members of parliament. For the far-reaching confession amounted to the fact that a secret army had operated in Luxemburg not only beyond the knowledge and control of parliament, but also beyond the knowledge and control of the government. The Prime Minister was unable to solve this delicate issue and indirectly blamed NATO for the fact that a secret army had been set up in the country: 'In conclusion I repeat that it was only in the context of Inter Allied agreements that Luxemburg contributed through its own and only secret service to the erection of the discussed network under the coordination of NATO authorities.' At no time, Santer was eager to convince his parliament, had the network used its arms or explosives, nor engaged otherwise in illegal activities during peacetime, for 'the Luxemburg network has never known a military entanglement and it has never been used for other purposes than those for which it had been created!' The Prime Minister stressed that 'the very principle of a secret patriotic resistance organisation for the case of an enemy occupation of the territory, must not be questioned' and informed his parliament that 'it is only normal that I have ordered the secret service to close down immediately the stay-behind network, in the expectation that the NATO countries will define their new strategy in a completely changed Europe'.

The history of the Gladio network in Luxemburg remains classified and frag- mentary. The numbers and exact contents of the arms caches and their location were not revealed, nor the dates or terms of cooperation between Luxemburg's stay-behind and NATO, CIA and MI6. As numerous questions remained, parliamentarian Jean Huss of the Luxemburg Green Alternative Party together with coalition partners after Santer's declarations asked first of all for an open debate in parliament on the issue, and secondly for the establishment of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the topic. Yet both suggestions were declined by the Luxemburg parliament in a majority decision.

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13
THE SECRET WAR IN DENMARK