Secret services / BND | Secret service reform as part of an “authoritarian state restructuring”

Clara Bünger on Friday in the plenary debate in the Bundestag on the secret service reform Photo: dpa/Bernd von Jutrczenka During the final debate immediately before the vote on what Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called a "reform of the century", Clara Bünger had to listen to sharp accusations on Friday. They came not only from the coalition parties, but also from the Greens. The Green Party member of the Bundestag, Konstantin von Notz, found that the Left was pursuing “fundamental opposition without any desire to shape things” by rejecting the massive expansion of powers for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the Federal Intelligence Service (BND).

But the interior expert from the left-wing faction in the Bundestag stuck to her assessment that the restructuring of the BfV in particular would create a new “secret police” that could escape effective state control. The politician explained why she represents this again on Thursday evening at an event organized by the “Helle Panke” association, the Berlin state headquarters of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.

Bünger's main criticism of the overall project, even after the changes made by the black-red coalition due to numerous constitutional concerns from well-known lawyers, is that this will lift the ban on separation between the work of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the police. This was enforced by the Western Allies in the old Federal Republic after 1945 after the experiences with Nazi terror.

Bünger cited the expansion of powers for the BND foreign service, which is then also allowed to enter apartments, as a further point of criticism. In addition, the federal government can declare a “special determination case” with the consent of the Parliamentary Control Committee (PKGr) of the Bundestag. The BND's powers would then be massively expanded again and parliamentary control would be further curtailed. The PKGr is currently only made up of members of the governing parties CDU, CSU and SPD as well as the Greens. Bünger failed as a left-wing candidate despite several attempts, and there is also no AfD representative on the committee.

"This will provide a possible future AfD government with tools that it could use to persecute members of the opposition."

Thursday evening was also about August Hanning, because the former BND president was arrested at the beginning of October. Because he is suspected of having carried out a brisk trade in the authority's internal data as a pensioner, which his former office manager is said to have obtained for him. The fact that former members like him pose a major threat to the service's ability to work was not an issue in the Bundestag on Friday.

Fabian Kunow from Hellen Panke referred to former leading officials of the BfV and BND who, after leaving office, are in the right-wing political spectrum. In addition to the former BfV President Hans Georg Maaßen, these include the former head of the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Helmut Röwer, and the Vice President of the BfV, Klaus-Dieter Fritsche. The latter was later an advisor to the short-term Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl from the extreme right-wing FPÖ.

For Bünger, such activities are no coincidence. "Hierarchical authorities, such as the secret services, attract people who feel at home in extremely conservative to ultra-right circles."

The politician reiterated that The Left continues to demand the dissolution of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. It is obvious that the AfD is an ultra-right party. The BfV is not required to make this determination. And the Society for Civil Rights has drawn up valid arguments for a ban in a report, says Bünger.

Around 20 interested people came to the discussion, including some very young people. There was particularly great interest in the work and history of the BND. Many reasons were given that would encourage resistance to the new law. The lessons from the Nazi era are being deliberately ignored and an “authoritarian restructuring of the state is being pushed forward,” said Bünger. "In addition, a possible future AfD government will be given tools that it could use to persecute members of the opposition," she warned. But the self-proclaimed center parties could also use the amendment to the law to restrict the rights of those in the opposition.

One aspect was only touched on in passing: the authoritarian restructuring is being pushed forward at a time when Germany's ability to wage war is being propagated on a daily basis. This aspect played an even greater role in the Bundestag debate on Friday. Alexander Dobrindt and numerous other politicians spoke of Russia waging a “shadow war” against “our democracy,” which is why the services needed to be empowered to wage an effective defensive fight.

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