Further details have become known about the controversial dismissal of former BSI President Schönbohm. According to a letter from the Interior Ministry, his leadership behavior also played a role.
The immediate ban on “conducting official business in accordance with Section 66 Sentence 1 of the Federal Civil Servants Act” was communicated to Arne Schönbohm, the then President of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), by email from the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
In it, the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), as the dpa news agency recently reported, lists several reasons for its decision and gives examples. “Business Insider” first reported in detail about the contents of the letter this Wednesday. The letter dated October 18, 2022 is also due to this ARD-Politics magazine Contrasts and the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”. Explosive details show how Schönbohm appears to have been removed as BSI president.
Böhmermann broadcast is just one reason of many
So far, the main thing that has been publicly discussed is the reason given by the BMI for a loss of trust in Schönbohm following a broadcast by “ZDF Magazin Royale” in October 2022. At the time, the satirist Jan Böhmermann had discussed Schönbohm’s closeness to the chairman of an IT lobby association that Schönbohm himself had co-founded. Already had in 2019 Contrasts and “Die Zeit” reported on the club chairman’s close contacts with Russia.
The report by “ZDF Magazin Royale” led to a loss of trust in public opinion, which made it impossible to continue in office – regardless of how valid the allegations actually were. But as the BMI letter to Schönbohm also makes clear, the dissatisfaction with the then BSI president went far beyond this process.
Leadership behavior – “significant allegations”
Complaints from a former BMI department head also played a role. In the summer of 2022, she reported to the ministry “with significant allegations” about Schönbohm regarding his “leadership behavior and lack of consideration of equality issues”. The female manager is said to have later left the authority at her own request and given up her civil service career.
As “Business Insider” reports, Schönbohm is said to have rejected the allegations to the BMI at the time. They are “blatant and general and are not supported by facts.” Contrasts and “Zeit” confronted Schönbohm with the allegations made in the BMI letter, but received no response.
Schönbohm’s alleged solo efforts
The BMI also accuses Schönbohm of a whole series of alleged solo attempts. Schönbohm sought financial resources for a branch of the BSI in Saarland from the Bundestag’s budget committee “contrary to the express wishes” of the ministry. Since mid-June 2021, the BSI has actually had a base in Saarbrücken where work is being done on the topic of artificial intelligence.
From the BMI’s perspective, another accusation against Schönbohm is his “lack of political sensitivity”. In January 2022, shortly before the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, he distributed “an uncoordinated report” with statements about the possible consequences of a Russian invasion on the cybersecurity situation. According to the BMI, the report on this explosive issue could be understood as a statement by the federal government.
“Excessive press work”
In the letter, the ministry also names “excessive press work” by the BSI under Schönbohm. As early as 2020, the ministry had asked him in writing to refrain from making “any statements to press organs” that had not been previously agreed with the responsible department, unless they related to the daily operations of the authority. As justification for this, a BMI department head pointed out in a letter, among other things, that Schönbohm had publicly commented on cybersecurity issues in the Bundeswehr that did not fall within his area of responsibility, but rather that of the Ministry of Defense.
In addition, he could have prevented “the creation of illusory expectations” when he was said to have publicly given the impression that he would create 200 jobs at the BSI in Freital, Saxony, by the end of 2020. Apparently the BSI clearly missed this goal it had set itself: in February 2020, a BMI department head complained that, according to the BSI, only ten employees would start working in Freital by the end of the year.
Insufficient cooperation with the ministry
Another accusation concerns supposedly “insufficient cooperation with the technical supervisory authority”, i.e. the ministry itself. In May 2021, Schönbohm initially refused to sign a cooperation agreement on the participation of Bavaria and Hesse in the cyber defense center. Only after a formal instruction from the responsible state secretary in the BMI did Schönbohm sign the agreement for the BSI.
At the request of, Schönbohm also commented on the criticism of his allegedly “excessive press work” and the insufficient cooperation, according to the BMI Contrasts and “time” doesn’t. It remains unclear whether all of the reasons listed by the ministry in the letter are correct.
Faeser: Criticism of Schönbohm’s performance of office has already been voiced earlier
Schönbohm’s dismissal was now an issue in the Bundestag’s Interior Committee. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser defended her decision. A main goal was to prevent damage to the BSI. “Already well before I took office and under various interior ministers of the Union, there were repeated complaints from the technical supervisory authorities regarding Mr. Schönbohm’s exercise of office,” said Faeser.
Schönbohm is suing the Federal Ministry of the Interior before the Cologne Administrative Court for 5,000 euros in damages for breach of civil service duty of care. Faeser, who is currently campaigning for the SPD as the top candidate in Hesse, is under political pressure. The opposition said today that Schönbohm’s dismissal was premature. According to CDU member of the Bundestag Josef Oster, not all open questions have been clarified.