Editing Projekt-26 (section)

==Key connections==
	•	Revelation and Timing: P-26’s exposure in November 1990 followed Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti’s October 1990 disclosure of Gladio, which revealed a NATO-coordinated stay-behind network across Europe. The timing prompted Switzerland to form a parliamentary commission, one of only three countries (with Italy and Belgium) to investigate such networks, to probe P-26’s links to Gladio. 

	•	MI6 Collaboration: The 1991 Cornu Report, authored by Swiss magistrate Pierre Cornu, described P-26’s collaboration with British intelligence as “intense.” Unknown to the Swiss government, MI6 signed agreements with P-26 (as late as 1987) for training in combat, communications, and sabotage. P-26 operatives regularly trained in the UK, and British advisors, possibly SAS, visited Swiss training sites. This mirrors Gladio’s training patterns, as Italian operatives also trained in the UK. 

	•	Harpoon Radios: P-26’s use of Harpoon radios, also employed by Belgium’s Gladio branch, suggests shared NATO infrastructure. Cornu found that P-26 connected foreign Harpoon stations in 1987 for 15 million Swiss francs, indicating coordination with other stay-behind networks. 

	•	Italian Evidence: Italian magistrate Felice Casson, who uncovered Gladio, claimed to have seen documents at SISMI’s Rome headquarters indicating Gladio contacts with Switzerland, though specifics remain unconfirmed. 

	•	NATO and CIA Ties: While P-26 was not directly under [[NATO Clandestine Planning Committee]] (CPC) or [[Allied Clandestine Committee]] (ACC), unlike Gladio branches in NATO countries, historian Daniele Ganser notes “close contact” with MI6, which collaborated with the CIA on Gladio operations. A 1990 Reuters report suggested CIA funding for stay-behind networks in neutral countries like Switzerland.

	•	Shared Objectives: Like Gladio, P-26 aimed to resist Soviet invasion but also monitored domestic left-wing movements. The Cornu Report criticized P-26’s mandate to act against a leftist parliamentary majority, echoing Gladio’s anti-communist activities in Italy, where it was linked to the “strategy of tension”.