STORY: Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser has relieved the President of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Arne Schönbohm, of his duties because of the accusation that he was too close to Russia. This was announced by the ministry in Berlin on Tuesday. Faeser decided to prohibit Schönbohm “from conducting official business as President of the BSI with immediate effect,” said a ministry spokesman. The background to this is not least the allegations, which are well-known and widely discussed in the media, and which have damaged the public’s necessary trust in the neutrality and impartiality of the conduct of his office as President of the most important German cyber security authority. Schönbohm is said to have maintained contacts with Russian secret service circles through the Cyber Security Council Germany. The Cyber Security Council itself had rejected such connections as “absurd”. The association, founded in 2012, advises companies, politicians and authorities on cyber security and declares itself to be politically neutral.