Security policy
Taurus debate: Suspicion of betrayal of secrets in the Defense Committee
A model of the Taurus system
© AFP
First the eavesdropping and now possibly a mole in the Bundestag. Secret conversations about possible Taurus deliveries to Ukraine found their way to the public. Now there are criminal consequences.
According to a report, there may have been a betrayal of secrets at the special meeting of the Defense Committee on the possible delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. Specifically, it is about technical details about target data planning in the secret part of Inspector General Carsten Breuer’s meeting, as the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported on Friday. The committee chairwoman Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP) announced consistent steps to address a possible betrayal of secrets.
The committee meeting was scheduled last Monday in response to a Russian wiretapping attack on one of four to Bundeswehr officers in which they discussed the possible use of the Taurus by the Ukrainian army. Details from the secret part of the meeting were apparently then passed on to the “t-online” portal.
Taurus scope of delivery could affect defense capability
As “t-online” reported, citing a “person familiar with the process”, Breuer explained the technical and operational procedure for target control in the meeting. It involves large and complex amounts of data that obviously have to be processed by special technical systems. However, these technical systems only exist to a limited extent.
If these were delivered to Ukraine, they would no longer be available to the Bundeswehr and could therefore sustainably weaken its own defense capability, said Breuer.
The argument based on Germany’s security interests would be a reason that has not yet been publicly stated for the negative attitude of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) towards the delivery of the Taurus cruise missiles. So far, Scholz has mainly argued that target control in order to rule out operations against Russian territory could only be possible with the help of Bundeswehr soldiers; This could mean that Germany could become a direct party to the war.
Strack-Zimmermann: “Revealing information from a secret meeting is a no-go”
With a view to a possible betrayal of secrets, committee chairwoman Strack-Zimmermann told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” that Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) would be informed immediately and the whole thing would then be “handed over to the federal police or public prosecutor’s office.” The FDP politician added: “Revealing information from a secret meeting is a no-go.” She hopes “that we identify the person in question and that they will then feel the consequences.”
Tank construction
The Leopard 2 is considered one of the best battle tanks of our time
On Wednesday in the Bundestag, Scholz accused CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen of having secret knowledge on the subject of Taurus, which could not be discussed openly. Röttgen said on Thursday that he had “no special knowledge” about the cruise missile. With the accusation, Scholz had “brought a new topic into the debate,” said Röttgen, with a view to the fact that such knowledge apparently existed.