US intelligence agencies have warned the German Federal Intelligence Service that existing cooperation may be reviewed after the arrest of its former head August Hanning. The warning reached the German service a few days after his arrest on October 6, DPA reported, citing German media reports.
There are currently no formal restrictions on the exchange of information between Germany and the US. According to German public broadcaster ARD, the US services continue to view the Federal Intelligence Service as an important partner, but have made it clear that relations are being reassessed. In urgent cases, including possible terrorist attacks, Washington intends to continue to provide intelligence.
The warning has caused serious concern in the German service. Representatives of the services quoted by ARD describe the exchange as being in a “normal state of cooperation“, specifying that only a few working meetings were postponed, which have now been rescheduled. At the same time, officials say that, according to their impressions, the volume and quality of information from the US has decreased.
The charges against Hanning
The 80-year-old Hanning is in pre-trial detention on suspicion of espionage. He headed the German Federal Intelligence Service from December 1998 to the end of November 2005.
The federal prosecutor's office accuses him of intelligence activities for a foreign state, espionage against the state, collection of state secrets and attempted treason. In a statement, the prosecutor's office said: “Hanning is strongly suspected of espionage against the state, collection of state secrets, attempted treason and intelligence activities.“
According to the indictment, in the spring of 2010, Hanning and his then office manager, Manfred D., agreed to hand over valuable intelligence data in exchange for payment. By that time, Hanning had already left his leadership position for five years, and Manfred D. continued to work in the system.
The federal prosecutor's office claims that over the years, Manfred D. gave Hanning approximately 2,000 documents, many of which contained classified information for the internal use of the Federal Intelligence Service. In at least one case, Hanning used the data obtained to prepare an analysis for a representative of a foreign intelligence service. It is not yet known whether the document reached its intended recipient.
What's next
The investigation is ongoing, with German authorities investigating whether Hanning passed on confidential information to more foreign services. German public television reports that hundreds of other documents have been seized and are to be analyzed.
Hanning denies the charges. His lawyer said his client did not pass on state secrets to the detriment of Germany and called the claim that he paid for confidential documents "nonsense". The federal prosecutor's office and the US embassy did not provide further details about the consequences of the case on bilateral intelligence cooperation.
Sources: news.bg, tagesschau.de