Suspicion of agent activity for Russia: After the arrest of a soldier in Koblenz, politicians and representatives of the troops praised the investigators’ work – and called for caution.
After the suspicion of espionage against an employee of the Bundeswehr procurement office, the German Bundeswehr Association called on the soldiers to be vigilant.
“The fact that such a case has now become known also shows that the mechanisms of the security authorities and in the Bundeswehr are working. We have to remain very careful and continue to sensitize the troops to the new dangers posed by the Ukraine war,” said Marcel, deputy chairman of the association Bohnert the “Rheinische Post” and the “General-Anzeiger”.
The parliamentary manager of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei, told the “Rheinische Post” that the incident could not be finally evaluated. “What is certain, however, is that the Russian war of aggression also has an enormous impact on Germany’s security.”
Evidence of Russian hybrid warfare
The CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter sees the case as further evidence of Russia’s hybrid warfare. “Germany is a war target in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the rule-based order, which violates international law,” said CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter to the newspapers of the Funke media group. It’s about agents who would be placed at neuralgic points. “Our intelligence services must be geared towards this approach by Russia in their structures and procedures.”
The domestic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Sebastian Hartmann, also called for more powers for the security services. The authorities must “get all the resources and legal options at hand to clarify and actively counteract the particular threat posed by espionage,” he told the editorial network Germany (RND).
Pistorius wants to expand defense against espionage attacks
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that he would further expand the defense against espionage attacks on the Bundeswehr. “We are quick and vigilant. We must consistently continue to strengthen the military counterintelligence service – especially in the field of counterintelligence,” said the SPD politician on Thursday of the German Press Agency in Berlin. The cooperation between the intelligence services is close and has worked extremely well.
Investigators from the Federal Criminal Police Office arrested an employee of the Koblenz Federal Armed Forces Procurement Authority (BAAINBw) in Koblenz on Wednesday. The accused is in his early 50s and an officer with the rank of captain.
As the federal prosecutor announced, from May 2023 onwards the accused contacted the Russian consulate general in Bonn and the Russian embassy in Berlin several times “of his own accord” and offered to cooperate. In doing so, he had transmitted information from his professional activity – “for the purpose of forwarding it to a Russian intelligence service”. According to information from the German Press Agency, his apartment in the Rhein-Hunsrück district and the secondary apartment in Koblenz were also searched.
Source: Stern
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