Possible links with Russia: Germany dismisses the head of its cybersecurity agency

Arne Schönbohm, the president of the German cybersecurity agency, was in the hot seat due to criticism of a lack of distance with Russia.

© Photo taken by Ordercrazy, Wikimedia commons

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1 min

German media revelations were messy as the war in Ukraine has dragged on for ten months and relations with Russia have stalled.

For nearly ten days, the president of the German cybersecurity agency had been in the hot seat due to criticism of a lack of distance with Russia.

The facts are still not clear, but the Minister of the Interior has decided to thank the person concerned.

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With our correspondent in Berlin

,

Pascal Thibaut

The necessary public confidence in the neutrality and impartiality of the agency is called into question, particularly in the current situation against the backdrop of Russian hybrid warfare

”: the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior on which the agency depends German cybersecurity company BSI explained this Tuesday in these terms the dismissal of the president of the organization.

Arne Schönbohm, in office for six years, has been criticized in the media for his closeness to a cybersecurity consulting association he co-founded ten years ago and one of whose members is suspected of contacts with intelligence Russians.

The president of this association is close to Moscow and had been invited as an observer of the last presidential elections in Russia.

The Ministry of the Interior emphasizes that the presumption of innocence applies.

An expert from the Green Party, a member of the ruling majority, regrets that the reproaches made to the deposed boss of the cybersecurity agency remain imprecise.

But the image of the organization was damaged while the Russian threat in this area is regularly mentioned.

The recent attacks against the

Nord Stream

gas pipeline or a large-scale

railway sabotage

at the beginning of the month have revived the debates.

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  • Germany

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  • Ukraine