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PKGr chairman Konstantin von Notz

Photo: Monika Skolimowska / dpa

The Committee for Parliamentary Control of the Secret Services (PKGr) expects the federal government to take decisive steps to clear up the Taurus wiretapping affair.

"The information war on the Russian side against Europe, NATO and Germany will increase in massiveness and viciousness," said PKGr chairman Konstantin von Notz (Greens) and the chairman of the Union faction, Alexander Hoffmann (CSU), after a special meeting of the committee.

Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) also took part in the meeting.

In the past, the PKGr has repeatedly drawn attention to Russian espionage and disinformation operations and the associated dangers, von Notz and Hoffmann explained.

The committee expects the federal government to "proactively and decisively investigate the numerous issues that also point in this direction - also in order to recognize patterns."

There is agreement with Pistorius that “Germany must be much more robust, resilient and defensive in the future.”

The PKGr monitors the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).

At the beginning of March, Russia published a recorded conference call between four high-ranking officers.

In it, the officers discussed operational scenarios for the German Taurus cruise missile if it were delivered to Ukraine.

The Bundestag Defense Committee also discussed the issue on Monday;

Pistorius also took part in this meeting.

After the recording of the conversation in Russia was published, the minister spoke of an “individual application error” by a participant in the video conference.

The committee meeting is also likely to address the question of the Taurus delivery itself, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has so far blocked.

In the intercepted conversation, participants contradicted Scholz's argument that German soldiers had to be involved in Taurus missions through Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression.

czl/AFP