As of: March 15, 2024, 4:22 p.m
By: Tadhg Nagel
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The Taurus wiretapping scandal has shaken the German security landscape.
The problem could be deeper than expected.
Is the BND negligent?
Berlin/London – A former head of the British foreign intelligence service MI6, Richard Dearlove, has urgently pointed out the changed security situation as a result of the Ukraine war.
He sees the Taurus leaks as only part of the problem.
He attests that Germany is fundamentally negligent when it comes to secrecy;
The former Chancellor was also not careful enough.
Was the former Chancellor not careful enough?
© POP-EYE / Ben Kriemann via www.imago-images.de
It has now been almost a month since the inspector and three high-ranking Air Force officers were intercepted by Russia during an explosive conversation.
On February 19, the four participants discussed technical requirements, operational scenarios and political implications of a possible delivery of German Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
The conversation was recorded and has since been exploited by Russia for propaganda purposes.
At the same time, the publication has sparked a discussion about the secrecy of information and the security of communication channels.
“Germany run from a cell phone”: Former MI6 chief criticizes Merkel and BND
Former MI6 chief Richard Dearlove is also not very enthusiastic about the events, as he
made clear in an interview with the US magazine
Politico .
Particularly given the situation, caution is advised, but this has often been lacking in the past.
“You know as well as I do that their safety record is terrible.
It's actually quite shocking."
Although Germany is not the only source of concern for the former intelligence officer, he nevertheless criticizes a fundamental negligence in the country.
Even Angela Merkel (CDU) did not pay enough attention during her time in office.
She was “notoriously casual” and “ran Germany from a cell phone.”
So you can be sure that the Russians have been listening in - and probably still are.
“I think the problem with Germany is that they are now pacifist by nature and have never really taken security seriously,” Dearlove continued.
“People who take this seriously” in the minority: Is the BND untrustworthy?
There are “people who take this seriously, but they are a tiny minority”.
He counts his personal friend, the former president of the German foreign intelligence service BND, August Hanning, in this minority.
Dearlove, however, has less trust in the BND as such.
During his time as head of MI6, he was very selective in passing on information to the German secret service.
“There was certain highly sensitive information that we would not have given them in a hundred years.”
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However, the situation has now changed due to the war in Ukraine and the increased threat it poses.
Because of the role it plays in supporting Ukraine, Germany will have to be given more information in the future.
“The Germans will be very nervous, very unsure how to play their cards, and they will be desperate to get advice,” Dearlove told the magazine.
Rethinking security and confidentiality necessary - Was the wiretapping scandal “just the tip of the iceberg”?
To ensure that this sensitive data falls into the wrong hands, a rethinking of security and confidentiality is necessary.
The President of the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Stephan Kramer, spoke
to the
Handelsblatt , calling for a rethink.
One must “finally understand that we are exposed to hybrid threats and attacks as states and societies,” otherwise there will soon be “even worse things” than the Taurus leak and “possible embarrassments.”
There is also a risk that “our partners in other countries will draw conclusions and no longer share some information with us.”
Kramer, just like Dearlove, sees this as a “logical consequence” of a permeable security apparatus in Germany.
Although Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) initially claimed at a press conference that it was an individual application error by the Bundeswehr member, the problem could lie deeper.
August Hanning told
Bild
that the Taurus scandal could have been “just the tip of the iceberg”.
Normally, successful interceptions would not be published in this way to protect the source.
The very fact that Russia is acting like this suggests that there are significantly more recordings in Russian hands.
(tpn)