Mölling on the US data leak: Spying on friends is quite normal

Security expert Christian Mölling does not expect relations between the United States and Ukraine to deteriorate because American secret services have apparently spied on the government in Kiev. Mölling said on Tuesday in star– “Ukraine – The Situation”, it would be “a complete disregard for the American understanding of security” to believe that the Americans are not also spying on allies. According to the research director of the German Society for Foreign Relations, this applies to both NATO partners and Ukraine.

Mölling suggested that other western states also collected information about their own allies. “You have to be clear-eyed,” he said. Mölling pointed out that under war conditions the leadership of a country could hardly get an objective picture of the situation. It is therefore also understandable if the USA relies on its own findings: “It is a kind of reinsurance,” he said. US documents that have appeared on the Internet suggest that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was being spied on, but their authenticity has not been clearly clarified.

More document leaks are imminent

Mölling did not suspect a Russian campaign behind the document leak, but rather a glitch or the action of an individual. “Most of the time it’s the insiders,” he said. But one should also “not rule out the most banal. It’s also possible that top-secret documents have been left at the bus stop.”

The Americans would now have to find the leak in their security system. As long as the leak is not closed, more secret information could be spread at any time: “Anyone who gets hold of these documents may also get hold of others.”

Emmanuel Macron offside

Mölling sharply criticized French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements on Europe’s role in the Taiwan conflict. Macron had demanded that Europe not be allowed to follow the “American rhythm” on the Taiwan issue. Mölling said: “I don’t know what got into the French President.” The timing and choice of words of his move were “so unfortunate that he basically shot himself offside in terms of foreign policy – at least for the moment”.

Of course, if there were a major confrontation between China and the US over Taiwan, it would also have implications for Europe’s security and economy. “We are already involved in the Taiwan conflict,” stressed Mölling. He made it clear that a “new world upheaval” could begin there. Macron has neither strengthened the position of France nor that of Europe. His attitude will remain “not without resistance”.