This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Official Information request 'Any past intelligence documents of anything relating to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).'.



 
New Zealand 
Security Intelligence Service  
 
PO Box 900, Wellington 
 
 
P  +64 4 472 6170 
 
F  +64 4 472 8209 
 
 
 
www.nzsis.govt.nz 
 
 
10 May 2022 
 
JR 
[FYI request #18950 email] 
 
Dear JR, 
Official information request  
Thank you for your email of 29 March 2022 clarifying your Official Information Act (OIA) 
request for information pertaining to the USSR and any security threats to New Zealand. 
You have identified three dates of interest, namely 30 March 1948, 13 August 1961 and 9 
November 1989, and seek documents from around five to 10 days either side of these dates. 
It is noted that the three dates relate to events in the then-divided city of Berlin. 
Decision on your request 
You will recall from our previous email that the information held by the NZSIS relates to 
national security, defined as the protection of New Zealand from acts of espionage, 
sabotage, subversion and terrorism.  
Espionage and subversion were the principal long-standing threats emanating from the 
Soviet Union. They were characterised by slow development and gradual evolution, and not 
driven by particular events.  
The developments in the USSR and German Democratic Republic associated with the dates 
to which you refer would not have had any impact here that would have resulted in the 
NZSIS re-assessing the threats to New Zealand’s national security. Accordingly, your request 
falls within the provisions of section 18(e) of the OIA – the information does not exist or 
cannot be found. 
Review 
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact 
[NZSIS request email].   
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.  
Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz 
or freephone 0800 802 602.   
 
Yours sincerely 
 
Rebecca Kitteridge 
Te Tumu Whakarae mō Te Pā Whakamarumaru 
Director-General of Security