Irish Examiner view: The whistleblower who came into the cold

Edward Snowden blew the whistle on mass surveillance but pledging an oath to Russia makes him akin to spy Kim Philby

Edward Snowden has sworn his oath of allegiance to Russia, which has given him shelter for nearly a decade. File picture: The Guardian/Glenn Greenwald/Laura Poitras/AP

It’s easy to understand why the world’s most famous whistleblower, Edward Snowden, has sworn his oath of allegiance to the country which has given him shelter for nearly a decade. 

That the nation happens to be Russia, a pariah for most of the world, does not overrule his requirement for personal protection for himself and his family. Snowden is now a fully-fledged Russian citizen and cannot be extradited.

Whatever your politics, the whistleblower from North Carolina did us all a favour when in 2013 he revealed the extent of collaboration between the US National Security Agency, the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance, telecoms companies, and European governments. 

Their programme of mass surveillance opened a huge debate, about state powers and their potential intrusion into the lives of everyone.

Snowden made his original application more than two years ago, before the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, on behalf of himself and his wife Lindsay Mills because he said he did not want to be separated from his son in an era of pandemics and closed borders. 

A 1955 photo of senior British intelligence officer Kim Philby who was revealed to be a double agent working for the then Soviet Union. Picture: PA

He benefits from an immigration reform introduced by Vladimir Putin in 2020 allowing foreigners to receive a Russian passport without renouncing other citizenships.

Snowden once said that although he had to lay down his head on a pillow in Moscow every night “I live on the internet and every other city in the world”. 

In many ways he resembles someone else who is also regarded by many as one of the Kremlin’s trophy traitors. 

It was 60 years ago next month that Kim Philby defected at the height of the first Cold War, a story being retold this week in a drama, A Spy Among Friends, on the new free streaming service ITVX. Cork’s Rory Gallagher once wrote a song for Kim Philby which included the lyric: “I’m lost in transit in a lonesome city / I can’t come in from the cold.” 

Perhaps Snowden should download a copy.