The discovery of a potential double agent working on behalf of Russia within Germany’s intelligence service was considered deeply troubling by Germany’s vice chancellor on Friday, with other elected officials expressing concern that he could have accessed information from the allied services.
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On Thursday, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Karlsruhe announced, the day before, the arrest in Berlin of Carsten L., a Federal Intelligence Service (BND) agent, suspected of passing sensitive information to Moscow.
Asked by German television channels RTL and NTV, German Economics Minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck described the issue as “particularly worrisome”, at a time when Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine continues. Feb 24.
Justice Minister Marko Buschmann said on Twitter that the case showed “how alert you have to be”.
The deputy chairman of the liberal party FDP – one of the three parties of the German government coalition – Wolfgang Kupecky expressed concern about the negative consequences that this case might have for the BND’s cooperation with the intelligence services. Western partners.
“If the information from the BND is indeed able to reach Russia, it will make our cooperation with our partners significantly more difficult,” Kubicki told the German newspaper Handelsblatt.
Citing information from sources in the security services in Berlin, Focus Online media said on Friday that the double agent who was discovered was a top-secret technical intelligence officer of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) abroad.
As part of these functions, he had access to all information from the secret services of the BND’s Western partners, German online media claim.
This could relate to information from the eavesdropping of other secret services, including the US National Security Agency and the British Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Public Prosecution Office confirmed that the double agent “provided the information collected as part of his work to a Russian intelligence service in 2022.”
Every detail made public in this case “represents an advantage (for Russia), in its intention to harm Germany,” said the head of the German Federal Intelligence Service, Bruno Kahl, on Thursday.
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