Office for the Protection of the Constitution investigates: Did officials in the Ministry of Economy spy on Moscow?

Constitution protection checks
Are officials in the Ministry of Economy spied for Moscow?

31/8/2022 1:34 PM

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution intervened because two senior officials in the Ministry of Economy took a clearly pro-Russian stance. According to media reports, the suspects, who work in a sensitive area of ​​energy policy, have a “biographical anomaly”.

According to a report, the Federal Bureau for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) is investigating the suspicion that two senior officials from the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) may have spied for Russia. The people involved work in a particularly sensitive area that deals with the federal government’s energy policy, Zeit previously reported. A department spokeswoman said the department could not comment on any individual cases.

She added that the ministry has been in close contact with the Office for the Protection of the Constitution since the beginning of the legislative period. It is clear that the work of the Ministry has a special focus due to the responsibility for energy security and the heavy dependence on Russian energy imports. “We always follow up all information related to security in close coordination with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and immediately implement any necessary steps in coordination with the Office for the Protection of the Constitution,” he added.

Zeit wrote that the Ministry of Economy handed the case over to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution after internal suspicions arose against those affected. The officials drew attention because they had taken a clearly pro-Russian stance in the gas and energy policy proposals. The newspaper, citing unidentified sources in Berlin, reported that the Ministry for the Protection of the Constitution examined the resumes of officials and found “biographical anomalies”. In one case, it was a study visit to Russia.

Obvious “emotional closeness to Russia”

According to the report, intelligence officers also monitored travel movements and checked whether the flights were exclusively for official reasons or whether there were “suspicious diversions.” Special friendships and personal relationships with Russians were also examined. The newspaper wrote that there was talk of an “emotional closeness to Russia” that officials had clearly had. However, there was no solid evidence that he was in fact one or more spies.

The ministry spokeswoman confirmed that the new administration of the house “totally turned the friendly policy of Russia upside down.” Strategic decisions were transferred to management.