Conflicts
Espionage case: Federal government rejects Russian threat
The police have arrested two men in Bayreuth, Bavaria, who are said to have spied for Russia and scouted out possible attack targets in Germany. photo
© Daniel Löb/dpa
The espionage case from Bavaria has diplomatic consequences. The Foreign Office vehemently opposes the Russian Embassy’s claim that there is a anti-Russian climate in Germany.
The federal government has representations from the Russian embassy on this Espionage case from Bavaria sharply criticized. These statements – including those on social media – are false and the threat of consequences is clearly rejected, said a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin.
Two German-Russian citizens were arrested in the Bayreuth area this week who are said to have scouted out targets for possible acts of sabotage in Germany for Moscow. According to the Federal Prosecutor General’s assessment, the aim was in particular to “undermine the military support provided by Germany to Ukraine against the Russian war of aggression.”
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock summoned the Russian ambassador yesterday. The ambassador was clearly told that such activities should be avoided, the spokesman said.
The Russian embassy sharply criticized the summons of Ambassador Sergei Nechayev. A public statement said this was “a blatant provocation” aimed at “increasing the level of Russophobia.” The embassy further wrote: “We have made it clear that any unfriendly actions towards Russia will not go without consequences.”
Increased false news since the start of the war
Since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, the German security authorities have noticed an increased spread of false news about alleged attacks on Russians and Russian-Germans. For example, in the spring of 2022, an allegation circulated on social networks that refugees from Ukraine had beaten to death a Russian-speaking teenager in Euskirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia. At the time, the police assumed that fake news was being deliberately published to incite hatred.
For several years now, the AfD has presented itself as the guardian of the interests of Russian-Germans, the majority of whom previously remained loyal to the CDU and CSU. For example, the Vadar association, founded by AfD politicians, spreads the narrative that Russian-Germans and Russian-speaking people are discriminated against in Germany. The deputy chairman of the association is Bundestag member Eugen Schmidt. The chairman is former Bundestag member Ulrich Oehme, who traveled to the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia, in 2018 as an “election observer”.
One of the two suspects, 39-year-old Dieter S., shared AfD posts on social media. According to information from the German Press Agency, he is not a member of the party.
In response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, European states expelled suspected Russian agents shortly after the start of the war. At the beginning of April, the federal government declared 40 members of the Russian embassy in Berlin to be persons unwanted.
Increase in cyberattacks possible
In a dpa interview, the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, said in December 2022: “We are making great efforts to prevent further people who may be attributed to Russian services from coming here to Germany.” The federal government has also tightened the visa rules. A massive increase in Russian cyber attacks and so-called influence operations is also expected.
This includes disinformation campaigns and other methods that aim to influence public opinion, the outcome of elections or political decisions in the target country. Haldenwang said at the time that he expected Moscow to try to compensate for the reconnaissance opportunities lost by the expulsion of 40 agents: either with more “traveling agents” or with other disguises.