Russia releases a recorded conversation between German officers about the Taurus weapons system. Political Berlin is in turmoil – the Chancellor speaks of a “very serious matter”.
Russia has published an internal conversation between German air force officers, thereby embarrassing the Bundeswehr and the federal government. There is great concern that further security-relevant communications from German authorities could have been intercepted. At the weekend, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) spoke of a “very serious matter”. In response to a question from the German Press Agency about possible foreign policy damage, he said on the sidelines of a visit to Rome: “That is why this is now being clarified very carefully, very intensively and very quickly. That is also necessary.”
Luftwaffe conversation was apparently intercepted
On Friday, Russia released a recorded conversation between senior officers in which they discussed operational scenarios for the German Taurus cruise missile if it were to be delivered to Ukraine. The German Ministry of Defense said: “According to our assessment, a conversation in the Air Force was intercepted. We cannot currently say with certainty whether changes were made to the recorded or written version that is circulating on social media.”
The Bundestag’s military commissioner, Eva Högl (SPD), called for stronger security precautions. “Firstly, all those responsible at all levels of the Bundeswehr must immediately be comprehensively trained in protected communication,” she told the newspapers of the Funke media group. Secondly, secure and secret communication must be ensured in a stable manner. Thirdly, Högl called for more investment in counterintelligence and for the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) to be trained for this purpose.
Luftwaffe discussed Taurus scenarios internally
In the switching conference, four officers, including Air Force Chief Ingo Gerhartz, discussed operational scenarios for the Taurus in preparation for a conversation with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD). They come to the conclusion that rapid delivery and rapid deployment would only be possible with the participation of German soldiers – and that Taurus training of Ukrainian soldiers for a mission under their own direction would be possible, but would take months. The possible destruction of the bridge built by Russia to the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in violation of international law, is also being discussed.
However, it can also be heard in the recording that there is no political green light for the delivery of the cruise missiles demanded by Kiev. Chancellor Scholz justified his rejection of a Taurus delivery by saying that Germany could then be drawn into the war. “We must not be linked at any point or place to the goals that this system achieves,” he said at a German Press Agency event at the beginning of last week. At a public meeting in Dresden, he later explained that the weapon could reach Moscow if used incorrectly. Others then have to worry about where exactly what ends up. “In our case that would mean that we would have to participate in order to be able to do that. I think that is impossible.”
Pistorius: Recording is part of Putin’s information war
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) viewed Russia’s publication of the internal conversation as a “hybrid disinformation attack.” “It’s part of an information war that Putin is waging,” said the SPD politician on Sunday in Berlin, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “It’s about division. It’s about undermining our unity. And accordingly we should respond to it with particular caution, but no less determination.” It’s about “not falling for Putin,” emphasized Pistorius.
The minister said that he had not yet received any information about further leaks or the eavesdropping of further telephone calls. He expects the results of the internal review of the process in the first few days of the new week. When asked about possible personnel consequences, he said: “I generally do not speculate about personnel consequences before such investigations are completed. That would definitely be far too high.”
Union questions Scholz’s credibility
The Union reads from the published conversation between the Air Force officers that the participation of German soldiers in a Taurus mission through Ukraine is not technically necessary. The head of the CSU member of the Bundestag, Alexander Dobrindt, told “Spiegel” that the Chancellor was justifying his rejection of Taurus deliveries “possibly with a misrepresentation.” He demanded: “The Chancellor must explain this to the Bundestag.” A committee of inquiry cannot be ruled out. According to Parliamentary Secretary Thorsten Frei (CDU), the Union also requested a special meeting of the Defense Committee, at which Scholz should also appear.
Similar to Dobrindt, the CDU defense politician Roderich Kiesewetter argued on ZDF: “It must be clarified why the Chancellor goes public with false claims where he says that German Bundeswehr participation on site is necessary.” The CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen sees it the same way. In the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” he noted serious damage to Scholz personally: The question arises “why the Russian secret service and perhaps even a higher authority are doing so much damage to the Federal Chancellor by publishing the conversation right now.”
The chairwoman of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, sees the reason for the publication as Russia wanting to deter Scholz from giving the green light for the delivery of Taurus. The FDP politician told the Germany editorial network.
Demands for a comprehensive investigation into the wiretapping scandal
Green party deputy Konstantin von Notz expects the federal government to fully investigate the wiretapping scandal. To this end, corresponding reports would be requested from the responsible committees and other bodies for the coming week of the Bundestag session – which begins on March 11th.
How Russia obtained the recording is now being investigated by the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD). According to dpa information, the officers spoke to each other via the Webex communications application. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defense said: “There are indications that an insufficiently secure means of communication was used in view of the content that was obviously discussed. This is, among other things, the subject of further investigations.”
CDU politician Kiesewetter said on Sunday in the ARD program “Report from Berlin”: “Unfortunately, there are increasing indications that a Russian participant has obviously dialed into Webex and that it was obviously not noticeable that there was another dial-in number there.” Pistorius said he was not taking part in speculation about “who got in and how.” “So far this is all pure speculation and doesn’t help us any further.” He wanted to wait for the report from the military counterintelligence service.
Source: Stern
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