The German economy ministry has asked the German secret service (BfV) to investigate two high-ranking ministry officials over concerns about their possible ties to Russia, the weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported in a report today.
Die Zeit, citing its own investigation, reports that economy ministry officials had approached the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), which is responsible for espionage, in the spring about the officials and their rumored pro-Russian stance on matters such as the bailout of of Uniper group (the largest natural gas importer in Germany) or the state intervention in Gazprom Germania.
Die Zeit is not naming the officials.
The BfV has looked into the officials’ backgrounds, personal relationships and travel records and has so far found no hard evidence of espionage or corruption, Die Zeit reports.
A detailed study of their background by the agencies showed that one of the two suspects had studied in Russia. The two officials are also said to have an “emotional closeness” to Russia, the German newspaper said.
The finance ministry, which said it does not comment on specific cases, said it has been in close contact with the BfV since the start of the legislative period as the ministry operates under constant scrutiny by the BfV due to its responsibility for energy security.
“Furthermore, the new administration has completely revised the Russia-friendly policy of the previous government,” a ministry spokesman said.
“All efforts of the new administration are aimed at reducing dependence on Russian natural gas. This policy is being rigorously implemented,” the spokesman said.
Germany has been rocked in recent years by various espionage cases attributed to Russia.
German justice in late October gave a former employee of a computer security company a two-year suspended prison sentence for passing data to Russia concerning the German parliament.
In April, he also gave a Russian scientist a one-year suspended prison sentence for spying on the European Ariane space program on behalf of Moscow.
Accusations of cyber-espionage against Moscow had also weakened Russian-German relations, even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The dependence of Europe’s largest economy on Russian gas supplies has proved a weak point for the country since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Source: Capital
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