Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: German officials have arrested an employee of its BND foreign intelligence agency on suspicion of passing state secrets to Russia.
The Federal Intelligence Service is the intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor’s Office. The Bundesnachrichtendienst Headquarters is located in central Berlin and is the world’s largest intelligence headquarters. The BND has 300 locations in Germany and foreign countries. The accused, named Carsten L because of privacy rules, had been arrested in Berlin in a case of possible treason.
Officers have searched his flat, workplace as well as the home of another person. Foreign intelligence chief Bruno Kahl said that releasing more details about the case could be of use to Moscow.
“With Russia, we have dealing with an actor on the opposite side whose unscrupulousness and willingness to use the violence we must reckon with,” Mr. Kahl said. Every detail of this operation that becomes public means an advantage for this adversary in its intention to harm Germany.
Carsten L has remanded in custody on Thursday, a day after his arrest in the German capital Berlin. Offices have also searched at the former BND headquarters at Pullach near Munich.
He has suspected of sharing information with Russia this year which he obtained during the course of his professional activities. Federal prosecutors did not elaborate on whether that was before or after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
German intelligence and Russian spies
Germany has been one of several European countries that have arrested Russian spies in recent weeks. Norway accused an academic of spying for Russia, and Sweden also arrested two Swedish brothers and a man in his 60s. This week, Austria said it identified a Greek citizen suspected of spying for Moscow.
