The current espionage case in the #Bundesnachrichtendienst shakes the NATO intelligence community. There could hardly be a worse time than now. The alleged spy is said to be a senior staff member from the top-secret #BND SIGINT division 1/9
The person works there in the evaluation department, according to media reports. On European soil, the #BND is one of the big players with its #SIGINT capacities. He is an important intelligence tool in the work against Russia in the Ukraine war 2/9
In view of the war in Ukraine, the current espionage case could turn into a disaster for the #BND. Partner services cut off the flow of information. Trust is gone. This is likely to paralyse the work of the BND for years - much to Moscow's advantage 3/9
Did the #BND staff member work for Russia out of conviction? Was he put under pressure, could he be blackmailed? Were there collaborators in the service? All important questions. The BND has gone into deep freeze 4/9
The German media landscape is also very quiet. There is much speculation in other channels. There seems to be no limit to the imagination👇5/9
https://twitter.com/konprog/status/1606411958151946245
The current proceedings are a reminder of an espionage case more than 30 years ago.The long-time #BND officer Alfred Spuhler was caught spying for the #Stasi. He was initially active in the SIGINT Department. Later he moved to Department 1 (Operative Aufklärung) 6/9
For 16 years, Spuhler spied for East Berlin. His actions are still considered the greatest betrayal in the history of the #BND. Among other things, the Warsaw Pact learned in detail about the cooperation between US/GB - #NSA #GCHQ and BND 7/9
The #SIGINT stations in West Germany were an open book for the East. The Spuhler case was initially kept secret. It was years later that details of the espionage affair came to light. A hard blow for the BND. The #BND was no longer considered trustworthy by partner services 8/9
In the current case, it remains to be seen how deeply Moscow had insight into the work of the #BND 9/9
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