Alleged illegal wiretapping embarrasses German military

Published on: 03/02/2024 – 1:11 pm

3 minutes

” We are investigating whether communications related to the Air Force were tapped, military counterintelligence (BAMAD) All necessary steps have been taken », indicated the spokesperson of the Ministry German of protection. She was reacting to the growing controversy that emerged after the broadcast on Friday Russia On social media, there appears to be a recording of a conversation between high-ranking German officials.

On Friday, the editor-in-chief of Russian state channel RT Margarita Simonia released the file, which lasted more than half an hour. The recording appears to be an undated German Air Force video conference. Officials discuss various scenarios surrounding Ukraine’s possible use of German-made Taurus missiles, particularly considering their potential impact on destroying the bridge linking Crimea with Russia. The Taurus are long-range, German-made missiles that Kiev has been demanding from Berlin for months, and whichOlaf Scholz has so far refused to deliver

to his allies for fear of seeing Germany drawn into the conflict.

A delicate matter for Berlin

If the exchanges prove to be authentic, it will be a huge embarrassment for Berlin. This espionage affair is doubly delicate for Berlin. It highlights the gap in the technical means used for communication in the military. And it undermines the divided coalition on Taurus for Ukraine, reports our correspondent in Berlin, Nathalie Versieux.

In the recording, participants also discuss the details of France and Great Britain’s delivery of long-range Scalp missiles to Ukraine. ” If this story is true, it will be very problematic » announced the chairman of the German parliamentary committee for the supervision of the secret services, the newspapers of the RND group, Konstantin von Notz.

In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova asked: Quick clarification from Germany

» In this regard. ” Any attempt to avoid answering questions will be considered an admission of guilt “, she said. For his part, Russian Security Council number two Dmitry Medvedev decided on his Telegram account that ” Our longtime rivals, the Germans, have once again become our sworn enemies ” ” See how accurately “Clues” talks about attacking our territory with long-range missiles, choosing targets to hit and how to inflict maximum damage on our homeland. “, he said.

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Hearing differently?

German officials, for their part, fear that this alleged taping is no different. “ The question arises whether this is an exceptional case or a structural security problem » In the German army, added Konstantin von Notz.

An expert on defense issues from the main opposition party CDU (conservatives), Roderich Keysevator, speculates that ” Conversion was purposely promoted by Russia at this particular moment with a very specific objective », to moderate the debate in Germany over the delivery of Taurus missiles to Kiev. ” Other conversations were surely overheard and later broadcast to serve Russia’s interests “, he told the ZDF channel.

According to SpiegelThe discussion between German officials stems from a video conference on the public WebX platform and not from a secret internal army network, raising questions about internal security standards in the Bundeswehr.

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