German security politicians see cooperation with Austria’s secret service at risk if the FPÖ leads the future government. The “Handelsblatt” reports (Wednesday edition).
“The great proximity of the FPÖ to the Russian government poses a genuine problem” said the chairman of the parliamentary committee on intelligence services, Konstantin von Notz (Greens), to the newspaper. This would put “the integrity of the cooperation of European security authorities in question.”
SPD foreign policy expert Ralf Stegner, on the other hand, considers consequences necessary. “Cooperation with right-wing governments and Putin’s friends must be almost brought to a standstill in intelligence cooperation if one does not want to calculate with unacceptable security risks” he said to the “Handelsblatt”.
A similar view was expressed by CDU politician Christoph de Vries, who is also a member of the intelligence services committee: “Given the close ties of the FPÖ and the services with Russia during Kickl’s term as interior minister, there are justified concerns about further cooperation.” He hopes for a pragmatic solution: “A ÖVP-led interior ministry, which, for good reasons, holds distance from Russia, would make many things easier.”
Thuringian Constitutional Protection Chief Stephan Kramer also does not rule out consequences. “That in some cases, the means of cooperation could be limited, is no news, as there have been such situations before” Kramer said.
However, a decision on whether the current cooperation is at risk would only be made if “there are indications of problems.” “Even if this were necessary, for example, information on relevant threat situations would still be exchanged, because the protection of our countries and populations has the highest priority, even in times of limited cooperation.