There will be elections in Bavaria and Hesse in a month. The debate on the interior budget is, among other things, about the minister’s role in the removal of the former head of the authority, Schönbohm.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) has rejected allegations that she wrongly removed Arne Schönbohm from the top of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).
Yesterday, in the Bundestag’s budget debate, she spoke out with great indignation against the suspicion expressed by Union politicians that she might have used the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to justify this step.
Addressing the Union faction, the SPD politician, who is also the top candidate for the state elections in Hesse, said: “Stick to the facts and leave it to the CDU in Hesse to conduct the election campaign!” Faeser accused the CDU/CSU MPs of “throwing mud” at her. She did not allow the Union to ask questions during her speech.
Schönbohm is demanding compensation
The minister was accused of having relieved the former BSI president of his duties in autumn 2022 without good reason. Jan Böhmermann’s satirical show “ZDF Magazin Royale” had previously discussed Schönbohm’s closeness to a club that had come under criticism for alleged contacts with Russian secret services.
However, no disciplinary proceedings were then opened: the ministry informed Schönbohm’s lawyers that the preliminary investigations had provided no evidence of such a procedure, the “Business Insider” portal reported in May. A ministry spokeswoman then stated that her company “basically cannot comment” on personal details. Schönbohm is now demanding compensation from the federal government.
The Union parliamentary group’s domestic policy spokesman, Alexander Throm (CDU), said that Faeser should have answered questions in the Interior Committee about the suspicion that she had exploited the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to justify her actions in the Schönbohm case. CDU MP Christoph de Vries criticized the fact that she did not do this, which was a disrespect for parliament.
Faeser, for her part, emphasized: “There were no intelligence inquiries from me.” Relevant statements from her political opponents are “complete nonsense.” You have strengthened the BSI in view of the increased threat from cyber attacks. With Claudia Plattner, an internationally renowned expert is now at the top of the BSI.
Criticism of Faeser
Yesterday morning, the minister did not attend a short-term meeting of the Interior Committee about the controversial dismissal of the cybersecurity chief. She was represented by a Parliamentary State Secretary.
“Instead of clearing up the allegations, Nancy Faeser is disrespecting the entire parliament with far-fetched reasons,” said CSU General Secretary Martin Huber. The minister doesn’t even bother to think of credible excuses. Faeser is overwhelmed as a minister. “Someone like that can’t govern a federal state,” he said, referring to the Hesse election on October 8th.
Kühnert: Attacks show CDU nervousness
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert accuses the Union of attacking Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) in the Schönbohm case, primarily for election campaign reasons. “In view of the shrill CDU attacks on Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, it is clear: the conservative camp is nervous before the Hesse election,” Kühnert told the German Press Agency.
The fact that hardly anyone in the state knows the incumbent Prime Minister of Hesse is not the SPD’s fault, Kühnert continued. “We object to attacks on our well-known Hessian top candidate and Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser now being intended to bring more attention to the boring CDU election campaign.” The Hessian Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) governs the state with a black-green coalition.
On Tuesday, Faeser did not take part in a meeting of the Interior Committee that discussed the dismissal of the BSI boss. The CDU and CSU then called for another meeting to catch up on the survey. The traffic light coalition rejected this. According to the rules of procedure of the Bundestag, however, a convocation at the earliest possible date is obligatory “if a parliamentary group in the committee or at least one third of the members of the committee requests it, stating the agenda”.
Source: Stern
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