From the point of view of the former BND Presidents Hanning and Schindler, Germany needs a “change in the entire security architecture” – everything must be “put to the test”. They name the USA and Great Britain as role models.
The two former BND Presidents August Hanning and Gerhard Schindler see the German intelligence services as being too restricted by politics. The services are now suffering from an “excess of control,” they write in a guest article for “Bild am Sonntag”. “The intelligence services must not be further degenerated into toothless watchdogs with muzzles and iron chains.”
The two former heads of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) call for a “change in the entire security architecture” in Germany. Everything must be “put to the test”.
transfer of jurisdiction
In view of the ever-growing distance between day-to-day authority and technical development, a “new technical intelligence service based on the successful models of the NSA in the USA and the GCHQ in Great Britain” is needed, according to Hanning and Schindler. The German services must again become partners on an equal footing with other western services. “In the long run, we cannot afford to outsource terrorism investigations in Germany and the protection of our soldiers to foreign services.”
Both called for responsibility for the BND to be shifted from the Chancellery to the Defense Ministry. This is where most of the benefits and synergies can be expected. They also demanded new legal bases for radio intelligence and political support for “recruiting human sources”. Politicians and the courts should no longer “denigrate intelligence services as a threat to the rights of German citizens.”