Danger from agents?
Police and politicians concerned about Putin's spies in Germany
Created: 08/03/2022 05:17
By: Tom Offinger
The Russian Embassy in Berlin.
© picture alliance/dpa |
Christophe Gateau
The war in Ukraine also determines everyday life in Germany.
The Kremlin has long since set its sights on Germany: Thousands of Russian agents are said to be already active in this country.
Munich - The Ukraine conflict is not just limited to Eastern Europe, the Ukraine war has also become a part of everyday life in Germany.
The consequences of the harsh sanctions against Russia and President Vladimir Putin are particularly evident in diesel prices at gas stations and energy costs in Germany: costs continue to skyrocket, and there is no end in sight for the time being.
According to Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), direct participation in the war is not an option, but that does not mean that the general danger has been averted.
Because concern about Putin's spies on German territory is also growing.
Putin's spies in Germany: Thousands of agents from Russia in the Federal Republic
As the
Bild
newspaper reported on Monday (March 7), fear of Putin's spies is rampant in Germany.
According to German security authorities, around 200 operating spies from Russia are known, but experts assume a significantly higher number - 2,000 secret service employees are said to be currently active in the Federal Republic.
"We see the extent of aggressive Russian intelligence activity across Europe," former British intelligence chief John Sawer was quoted as saying.
"We probably only know ten percent of what they do," the 66-year-old explains with concern.
In addition to the security authorities, German domestic politics is also reacting with alarm. Sebastian Fiedler from the SPD believes that Putin will “let his spies do everything they can to drive a wedge into our society”.
Targets of Putin's spies in Germany - politicians, high-ranking company bosses and Kremlin critics
In addition to unsettling the population, as Fiedler describes it, Putin's spies are also said to be pursuing other goals.
According to the
Bild
newspaper, the primary focus is on obtaining information, with the Russians focusing primarily on German politicians, high-ranking company bosses and critics of the Kremlin.
In Moscow, the data is then collected and processed by Russia's agents.
It is unclear whether contract killings, such as that of Selimkhan Changoschvili in Berlin's Kleiner Tiergarten, are also on the agenda.
Russian spies: Close-meshed control by the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution – the police do not rule out acts of sabotage
Secret agents and spies endangering Germany's internal security - it sounds like history from a bygone era, but the danger is quite serious.
"I call for the very close monitoring of Russian secret service employees by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution," CSU politician Stephan Mayer, formerly Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior, is quoted as saying in connection with the possible danger that Putin's spies could pose.
The German police also take concerns about agents from Russia seriously.
Rainer Wendt, head of the German police union (DPolG), even considers attacks on barracks and military bases possible: "We must absolutely prevent acts of sabotage on NATO bases in Germany." (to)
