As of: March 16, 2024, 9:24 a.m
By: Richard Strobl
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A report by the highest intelligence control body warns drastically against espionage actions by Russia in Germany.
(Collage of symbolic images) © Collage: dpa/Alexander Zemlianichenko // IMAGO / photothek
After the wiretapping affair, Russian espionage in Germany has come into focus.
The highest control body of the secret services is now making an alarming statement.
Berlin – Russia not only listened to a full 38 minutes of confidential Bundeswehr conversations, but also published the recording.
The incident caused horror in Germany.
The security situation appears to be threatened - and Germany's trustworthiness in terms of intelligence from the perspective of other nations is also being questioned.
Now the highest control body of the German secret services has made a dramatic appeal.
The fact that the Parliamentary Control Committee even speaks out is a rarity.
This monitors the Federal Intelligence Service, the military intelligence service MAD and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
So a lot of secrecy.
A letter from the committee about Russia's activities in Germany now seems all the more drastic.
“Massive espionage”: Supreme intelligence committee warns drastically against Russia’s actions
Vladimir Putin's nation has been carrying out massive espionage in Germany "not only for years," says the letter, which was signed by the chairman of the committee, Dr.
Konstantin von Notz (Greens), is signed.
“Rather, Germany is at the center of Russian influence operations,” says the statement from mid-March, which is available to
Merkur.de
.
Russia is also trying to “actively influence politics, the economy and society illegitimately at various levels”.
According to the committee, this works in many cases.
The problem: Russia's actions would be carried out in a way "that poses significant challenges to existing means of intelligence processing."
However, the committee is really alarmed about how the threat is being dealt with: It is the committee's “impression that the scope of the threat has not been and is not recognized by all those responsible for politics or by society in Germany as a whole.”
Russia's “toolbox”: This is how Putin influences Germany
The letter then lists Russia’s “toolbox of hybrid attacks” in Germany:
extensive disinformation campaigns in media, social networks and platforms
massive propaganda about hack and leak operations
Espionage and cyberattacks
targeted instrumentalization and promotion of migration
Influencing elections and influencing political decision-making
Support for extremist groups (also financially)
Russia no longer shys away from assassination attempts on German and European soil.
This was recently demonstrated by the death of a defector in Spain.
“The attacks are aimed at destabilization, uncertainty and social division,” the committee summarizes in its report.
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“It’s not enough”: Control committee with drastic criticism of Russia espionage
Then comes open criticism of how the situation is being handled: It is not enough to identify hybrid attacks and only consider them isolated as individual cases.
Rather, you have to recognize the “holistic strategy behind it” and recognize patterns in order to “stand up and assert yourself”.
The traffic light coalition is therefore expected to handle the attacks “proactively and decisively”.
In addition, a society-wide perspective must also be taken in order to be able to classify what is happening.
Events from the past would also have to be taken into account and, if necessary, reconsidered against the background of a possible “Russian macro strategy”.
In the future, Germany must “make itself much more robust, resilient and defensive,” says the conclusion of the drastic letter.
Part of this is to continually inform the public, raise awareness of the threat situation and, if necessary, warn them.
(rist)