Taurus Leak: This is what German media write about the wiretapping affair

Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has described the Bundeswehr wiretapping affair as part of a Russian “information war”. Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to drive German domestic politics apart, Pistorius said on Sunday in Berlin. “It’s a hybrid disinformation attack – it’s about division, it’s about undermining our unity,” said the SPD politician. “We mustn’t fall for Putin.” That’s why we have to react prudently, “but no less decisively,” to the recording of a phone call between senior Bundeswehr officers published by Russia.

Does the German media see it the same way? The press reviews.

Augsburger Allgemeine

“No, no one should now jump over Putin’s stick and hastily accuse the Chancellor of having told an untruth. Certainly, after the publication of a conversation between several high-ranking Bundeswehr military officers that was intercepted by the Russians and is obviously authentic, it looks as if Olaf Scholz has The facts were not described entirely correctly when he claimed last week that he did not want to send the Taurus cruise missile to Ukraine because Bundeswehr soldiers were essential to operating it. But there could also be completely different considerations behind Scholz’s words, such as: “That the Chancellor simply does not trust the Ukrainians’ promise – for whatever reason – that they would not fire the dangerous device at targets in Russia itself. And therefore insists on control by German soldiers.”

badish newspaper

“It’s an embarrassing matter – on several levels. Russia has apparently intercepted a telephone conference between high-ranking officers in the Bundeswehr and published it. (…) Olaf Scholz (SPD) has to put up with questions. The Chancellor repeatedly warns that Germany should not become a warring party. It is right that he is drawing this red line. But anyone who listens to the recording quickly realizes that the military leadership considers what the Chancellor says publicly about Taurus to be factually incorrect. Because the use of the weapon would cause loud noise Scholz requires that German soldiers be involved in target programming. The Air Force officers contradict this: With appropriate training, Ukrainian soldiers could master the weapon on their own. Scholz has announced that he will clear up the affair quickly. He has to take the first step himself: He must explain what his real reasons are for not delivering Taurus.”

Picture

“Perhaps that was even the goal of the Russian propaganda operation. The NATO alliance is supposed to be divided and top officers in the Bundeswehr are weakened.

We certainly shouldn’t do Putin this favor. Not even the slightest impression should be given that the Kremlin can influence the Bundeswehr in the selection of its top personnel through propaganda!

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius now have the task of clearing up the scandal. We want to know HOW the Russians are spying on us, WHY it was possible and WHAT consequences will be drawn from it.”

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

“No matter how detailed the officers spoke about the possible uses of the Taurus (especially for attacks on the Kerch Bridge), it was also clear that it was only about options for action that should be presented to the political leadership. After this secrecy meltdown , which revives the allies’ old doubts about Germany’s reliability and secrecy, heads will have to roll.

However, it is not expected that Scholz will fire his most popular minister. Nor does it mean that the Chancellor is revising his decision on the Taurus. Moscow ensured this by publishing the recording. The Kremlin now knows well what makes the Chancellor tick. And also how to turn the tables on the cruise missile so that it becomes a nightmare for those who didn’t want to use it.”

Leipziger Volkszeitung

“The Russian leadership, however, who commented on the excerpt from the conversation with a mixture of triumph and indignation, has hardly heard any military news. However, in the propaganda battle that accompanies the war, the recording is a welcome instrument for Russia. Among its own people This feeds the narrative of the aggressive West and thus covers up its own aggression. It was Russia that attacked Ukraine. If, at the same time, uncertainty can be stirred up in Germany and the credibility of acting actors can be undermined – the Kremlin likes it.”

New Osnabrücker Zeitung

“The Kremlin boss has long been waging an information war against Germany, as Defense Minister Boris Pistorius emphasizes. It reduces the situation to absurdity when there is now more talk about Taurus demands from the opposition than about the actual wiretapping scandal. Before the federal government talks about the delivery of further heavy ones “If you’re thinking about weapons, you should first make sure that the Russian regime can’t just eavesdrop on the German military. Otherwise, Putin can continue his information war unhindered – which doesn’t help Ukraine one bit.”

Rhine newspaper

“It couldn’t actually be worse. The wiretapping scandal shows how carelessly and naively even the highest levels of the Bundeswehr continue to act in this dangerous dispute with Russia. It is downright outrageous that an air force chief and his officers, one of them in Singapore, are using the Webex platform sensitive military conversation. This scandal must be clarified immediately. In addition, the German side is once again causing irritation in Great Britain because the Bundeswehr officers are talking about British soldiers in Ukraine. In doing so, they are putting British Ukraine policy at risk. Putin sees Germany “Apparently the war against Russia has been going on for a long time. The situation in the Ukraine war is becoming more threatening, and to a certain extent this also applies to the German security situation.”

Stuttgart News

“Russia has managed to expose Germany by publishing an internal conversation between German Air Force officers. Russian propaganda is exploiting the topic, and the German security apparatus has also been embarrassed. There was speculation on Sunday that a Russian secret service agent might simply have joined the conversation could have because he got access to the access data. If that’s true, allies like the USA or Great Britain will share important intelligence information with Germany even less often. Because the German security apparatus seems to have more open doors than an Advent calendar on Christmas Eve. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius demanded On Sunday, there was rightly a complete review of the incident. Scholz had also previously stated that the wiretapping affair should be cleared up “very carefully, very intensively and very quickly.” The Chancellor himself must make the first contribution to this: He must explain his true motives are not to deliver Taurus to Ukraine.”

World

“The fact that Russian services listened in on a conversation between German officers is embarrassing for the federal government. But it is also clear that the sheer fact that Moscow listened in is obviously more valuable for Putin than the siphoned off information itself. The West must react to that.”

Sources: DPA, , , .