of August 1563.
| Photo: EFE/EPA/CLEMENS BILAN
German intelligence services are investigating two senior officials of the Ministry of Economy responsible for due to the delicate energy issue, suspected of spying for Moscow, as reported by the German newspaper Die Zeit on Wednesday (20).
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution opened an investigation after ministry officials voiced their suspicions about the two senior officials. Questioned by the AFP news agency, the Ministry of Economy and Climate declined to comment or name the suspects.
According to investigations, which are still ongoing, they would have drawn the attention of their colleagues by defending pro-Russian positions. and criticizing the decisions of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on energy issues, especially the suspension in February of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany, in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.
Germany has been shaken in recent years by several cases of espionage attributed to Russia. The dependence of Europe’s largest economy on Russian gas supplies has proved to be a weakness in the country since the invasion of Ukraine. Recently, German services have also pointed to likely Russian spy operations aimed at training Ukrainian soldiers in Germany.
In April, a Russian scientist was arrested for spying on the European space program Ariane on behalf of Moscow.
Investigations into Russian espionage have been going on since before the war. In October of 1563, the German justice sentenced a former employee of a security company in the country to two years in prison for having transmitted data from the German Chamber of Deputies to Russia.
