A Russian propagandist publishes an audio file of a conversation between German officers about the Taurus weapons system. The Chancellor speaks of a “very serious matter”.
According to a media report, the wiretapping scandal in the Air Force is said to be due to the fact that no protected line was used for the switching conference of the officers concerned. According to dpa information, the officers spoke to each other via the Webex communications application. The Webex session was in turn sent to the soldiers’ cell phones via a Bundeswehr office landline, wrote “Bild am Sonntag”, citing security circles.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defense told “Bild am Sonntag”: “There are indications that an insufficiently secure means of communication was used in view of the content that was obviously discussed. This is, among other things, the subject of further investigations.”
Scholz promises quick clarification
After the Russian publication of a recording of discussions between German Air Force officers on the Ukraine war, Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised quick clarification. On the sidelines of a visit to the Vatican, the SPD politician spoke of a “very serious matter”. In response to a question from the dpa about possible foreign policy damage, he said: “That’s why this is now being clarified very carefully, very intensively and very quickly. That is also necessary.”
The head of the Russian state broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonjan, published an audio recording of the approximately 30-minute conversation on Friday, which may have been intercepted. In it, senior Air Force officers can be heard discussing the theoretical possibilities of using German Taurus cruise missiles by Ukraine. According to dpa information, the conversation is authentic. The officers connected via the Webex platform.
The Defense Ministry assumes that an internal conversation between Air Force officers was intercepted. “According to our assessment, a conversation in the Air Force was intercepted. We cannot currently say with certainty whether changes were made to the recorded or written version that is circulating on social media,” a ministry spokeswoman told the dpa.
Security politicians are alarmed
Security politicians demanded consequences. “We urgently need to increase our security and counter-espionage because we are obviously vulnerable in this area,” said the chairwoman of the Bundestag’s defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, to the editorial network Germany (RND). The deputy Union parliamentary group leader Johann Wadephul called on the federal government to tighten the regulations for the protection of communications.
Green politician Konstantin von Notz told the RND: “The question arises as to whether this is a one-off event or a structural security problem.” The chairman of the Parliamentary Control Committee demanded that he expects “immediate clarification of all background information.”
Details about Taurus and explosive statements
Air Force Inspector Ingo Gerhartz, among others, took part in the conversation. It is said to have served as preparation for a briefing for Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD). The exchange documented in the audio file addresses, among other things, the question of whether Taurus cruise missiles would be technically capable of destroying the bridge built by Russia to the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in violation of international law. Another point is whether Ukraine could carry out the shelling without the participation of the Bundeswehr. However, it can also be heard in the recording that there is no green light at the political level for the delivery of the cruise missiles demanded by Kiev.
What is explosive is that there is talk of the British having “a few people on site” in connection with the use of their Storm Shadow cruise missiles delivered to Ukraine. There had just been anger in Great Britain over a statement made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which some interpreted as an indiscretion. “What the British and French are doing in terms of target control and the accompaniment of target control cannot be done in Germany,” said the SPD politician. He left it open what exactly he meant by that. However, the sentence was understood by some as an indication that the French and British would support the control of their Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, which were delivered to Ukraine, with their own forces. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak immediately denied this: “Ukraine’s use of the Storm Shadow long-range missile system and the target selection process are the responsibility of the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Greens demand clarification in the Bundestag
The Green Party deputy Konstantin von Notz is calling for clarification quickly. “We expect an immediate and comprehensive clarification of the matter from the federal government and will request corresponding reports from the responsible committees and other bodies for the next week of meetings,” said von Notz in Berlin. In theory, the Interior Committee, the Defense Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee as well as the Parliamentary Control Committee (PKGr), which is responsible for monitoring the federal intelligence services, are theoretically eligible for this in the Bundestag.
