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MI6, DGSE, Ukraine... L’Express reveals an unprecedented ranking of Europe’s best spies

lexpress.eu 31 July 2026 at 07:10 View original article →

The original link is the material being checked. It may contain false or misleading claims — we link for transparency, not endorsement.

82/100
Verdict High Trust Largely Reliable (Mostly Accurate with a Minor Attribution Inaccuracy)

This is a promotional/editorial feature by the French newsmagazine L'Express introducing its first ranking of European intelligence agencies, judged by a panel of intelligence professionals.

✓ 5 checks out ✕ 1 disputed ? 3 unverified
☰ Full analysis The complete summary ⌄

This is a promotional/editorial feature by the French newsmagazine L'Express introducing its first ranking of European intelligence agencies, judged by a panel of intelligence professionals. The central, verifiable factual claims are strongly corroborated by primary and secondary sources: L'Express did publish such a ranking, compiled via a jury of 60 intelligence professionals from 25 countries, and Alexander Cadogan was indeed a senior British diplomat (Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 1938-1946) closely associated with Churchill during the Second World War. The principal factual weakness is a quotation/attribution inaccuracy: Cadogan's famous characterisation of intelligence is the 'missing DIMENSION of diplomatic history' (popularised by historians Christopher Andrew and David Dilks), not the 'missing LINK' as rendered here. The piece is otherwise atmospheric journalism rather than hard reporting, with low emotional charge and heavy reliance on anonymous sourcing, which is conventional for intelligence coverage but limits independent verifiability. Overall the article is reliable on its checkable facts, with one notable paraphrase error likely arising from translation from the original French.

What checked out (5)
  • L'Express published (its first) ranking/palmarès of European espionage agencies. [Corroborated by L'Express's official X and Facebook accounts and by the bylined journalists' own LinkedIn posts.]
  • The ranking was compiled by a jury of 60 (soixante) intelligence professionals drawn from 25 (vingt-cinq) countries. [Matches L'Express's own promotional statements verbatim.]
  • Alexander Cadogan was a British diplomat and senior Foreign Office official (Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 1938-1946). [Wikipedia/Wikidata and multiple biographical sources.]
  • Cadogan was closely associated with Winston Churchill, accompanying him to the major wartime Allied conferences (Washington, Moscow, Cairo, Tehran, Yalta), consistent with the description of him as a former adviser to Churchill. [Cadogan diaries publisher summaries; Churchill Archives Centre.]
  • The framing that intelligence is an under-appreciated / hidden element of geopolitical and diplomatic history is an authentic scholarly theme historically attributed to Cadogan and revived by Andrew & Dilks. [Academic sources in Intelligence and National Security.]
✕ Disputed claims 1 claim ⌄
  • Quotation/attribution inaccuracy: The article attributes to Cadogan the phrase intelligence as the 'missing LINK' in geopolitical analysis. The well-documented, historically attributed phrase is the 'missing DIMENSION of (most) diplomatic history'. This is a paraphrase/translation error rather than a fabrication; it is marked as an inaccuracy, not as deliberate falsehood.
? Unverified claims 3 claims ⌄
  • The specific reportorial anecdotes (the 'muscular Lithuanian soldier' near Gare du Nord, the 'portly Frenchman' at a plush venue, the 'former Swiss intelligence director' quotation) cannot be independently verified because they rely on anonymous, single-source, first-person testimony inherent to intelligence journalism.
  • The claim that L'Express spoke to 'around a hundred intelligence professionals' over three months is plausible and consistent with the outlet's statements but cannot be externally confirmed.
  • Specific evaluative characterisations within the ranking (e.g., an agency 'mocked as a gathering of researchers' or praised for a 'remontada' with its Action Service) are editorial judgements of the jury that are not independently verifiable and are presented as opinion.
⌕ Sources & how we checked Search journal, source grades, confidence ⌄
Confidence

High — The two most consequential factual claims (the existence/composition of the L'Express ranking and Cadogan's identity/role) are each corroborated by at least one primary source and multiple reputable secondary sources with recent or stable dates. The single inaccuracy (missing 'link' vs 'dimension') is well documented in academic literature, giving high confidence in that adjudication. Residual uncertainty stems only from unverifiable anonymous anecdotes and undisclosed ranking methodology, which do not materially affect the trust score.

Search journal

Alexander Cadogan diplomat Foreign Office

Alexander Cadogan Winston Churchill adviser

L'Express classement services renseignement europeens

L'Express classement renseignement DGSE premiere place palmarès jury

Alexander Cadogan Wikipedia permanent under-secretary foreign affairs

Cadogan "missing dimension" diplomatic history Andrew Dilks intelligence

Alexander Cadogan diaries Churchill wartime foreign office relationship

Article metrics

Emotion 12% · Reading grade 11.9 · 305 words

≡ The article we checked Full text as retrieved ⌄
[Intelligence]( Exclusive. Who is mocked as a "gathering of researchers"? Who is making a "remontada" with its Action Service? L’Express presents the first ranking of espionage agencies in Europe, compiled by a jury of sixty intelligence professionals from twenty-five countries. Revelations. The spies’ rankings Are they really in the same line of work? In mid-June, a muscular Lithuanian soldier told us about the war in Ukraine whilst sipping _ginger beer_ on a stool in the street, near Gare du Nord. His temperament was worlds apart from that of the portly Frenchman we had met in a plush venue a few days earlier, an aficionado of convoluted acronyms and embassy cocktail parties. Judging by their recent roles, however, they have very likely conducted operations together. For three months, L’Express immersed itself in the world of European espionage, seeking out around a hundred intelligence professionals. The aim? To recount the invisible war of the Old Continent, questioning the assessment of the British diplomat Alexander Cadogan. This former adviser to Churchill described intelligence as the "missing link" in geopolitical analysis. Due to secrecy, the general public only has access to an incomplete, sometimes misleading, account of history’s upheavals. Spies do not readily open up. But many, without giving too much away, embrace this theory, often with a particular operation in mind – one that changed everything – in Iran, Ukraine or Syria. This includes the way the country holding decisive intelligence is perceived. "Coming from the Foreign Office, I never imagined the intensity of intelligence relations between countries. It is far richer than diplomacy," confides a former Swiss intelligence director. dictionary This content was first published in [French]( and translated using AI technology with the expertise of Lionbridge, supported by human review. Your feedback is valuable. Let us know how we can refine our translation by completing this [quick survey](

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