The affair caused astonishment among some BSI employees. They say: From criticism and distrust against Schönbohm there was still nothing to be felt during Faeser’s visit to Bonn on August 8th.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin After the dismissal of BSI boss Arne Schönbohm, traffic light politicians urged Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) to clarify the allegations against him.
“I expect that the interior minister will comply with Mr. Schönbohm’s request to initiate disciplinary proceedings,” said the first parliamentary director of the Greens parliamentary group, Irene Mihalic, to the Handelsblatt. “There must be no doubts about the integrity of a German security authority.” The core issue is whether Russian representatives were able to exert direct influence on the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).
The FDP domestic politician Manuel Höferlin also sees Faeser on the train. “Schönbohm’s absence must not lead to the paralysis of Germany’s top cyber security authority,” Höferlin told the Handelsblatt and called for speed in the disciplinary proceedings. This is also important to protect the BSI, its work and its reputation. “The topic of cyber security is too important for us to accept delays here,” stressed Höferlin.
Schönbohm is accused of having contacts with the “Cyber Security Council Germany” association, which he co-founded and some of which are accused of having problematic contacts with Russia. In September he appeared at a celebration of the club’s tenth anniversary. The connection between the BSI boss and the club had previously been discussed by Jan Böhmermann in the program “ZDF Magazin Royale”.
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A few days after the program was broadcast, Faeser prohibited Schönbohm from conducting official business with immediate effect. The Ministry of the Interior wants to decide quickly on the successor. Because Faeser has big plans for the BSI. The Bonn authority is to be expanded in the relationship between the federal and state governments to become the central office for IT security. However, it is still open whether the rapid replacement of the management position in the BSI planned by the Ministry of the Interior will come to fruition.
Schönbohm wants to force the ministry to initiate disciplinary proceedings
Because Schönbohm has not yet indicated that he would agree to a transfer to another post. Since Schönbohm, as head of the authorities, is not a political official, he cannot be placed on temporary retirement for a factual reason at any time. Rather, he must be offered another equivalent post within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
>> Read also: The dismissal of BSI boss Schönbohm is doubtful
In order to force the ministry to prove concrete allegations, he asked for a disciplinary procedure. This was announced by the ministry at a meeting of the Bundestag’s Interior Committee last Tuesday.
According to this, Schönbohm had requested the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against himself by email the day before. A civil servant has this opportunity to relieve himself of the suspicion of a breach of duty.
At the committee meeting, a state secretary of the ministry said that Schönbohm had stated in the written request that he did not know what the allegations against him were and what the ministry had actually checked. A ministry spokesman confirmed to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” that there have been no disciplinary proceedings so far.
Before his time at the BSI, Schönbohm was chairman of the one he co-founded Verein Cyber-Sicherheitsrat Deutschland, which later became the focus of German secret services due to dubious contacts in Russia.
(Photo: dpa)
Schönbohm’s actions are now putting the Interior Minister under pressure. It is true that Faeser can prohibit an official in Schönbohm’s position from conducting official business for compelling official reasons. However, according to civil service law, the ban expires “if disciplinary proceedings or other proceedings aimed at withdrawing the appointment or terminating the civil service relationship have not been initiated against the civil servant within three months”.
Faeser gets support from the digital policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Jens Zimmermann. The minister must be able to fully rely on the President of the BSI. “This is obviously no longer the case,” Zimmermann told Handelsblatt. The dismissal will now avoid a long hanging game. “In view of the security situation, I think that’s necessary,” says Zimmermann.
Controversial cyber security association was the focus of several secret services
Meanwhile, new details about the controversial cyber security association became known. As the “Spiegel” reports, there has been a long-term operation by the German foreign intelligence service BND. In addition, the current chairman of the association, Hans-Wilhelm Dünn, and a person associated with the association were monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).
>> Read also: Sabotage against trains and pipelines – how endangered is Germany’s critical infrastructure?
According to the report, the investigations are about an uncritical proximity to Russia and possible connections to Russian secret services. According to information from the Handelsblatt, the intelligence services have also reported on details in the case several times in the secret parliamentary control committee of the Bundestag.
Former CDU Interior Minister de Maizière appointed Schönbohm BSI President in 2016.
(Photo: dpa)
From the outset, some government officials and employees of the security authorities were critical of the association that Schönbohm founded in 2012 before his time at the BSI. Initially, however, this had nothing to do with the suspicion of Russian influence. Rather, the name bothers you.
Because there are fears that there could be confusion with the National Cyber Security Council, which was set up a year earlier – a body of the federal government that deals with threats in cyberspace and the protection of important facilities from hacker attacks. The Federal Ministry of the Interior therefore recommends keeping your distance from the association.
When the then Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière (CDU) made Schönbohm President of the BSI in 2016, he gave up the management of the association.
More: “Prepare for all crisis scenarios” – Minister of the Interior specifies plans for the protection of critical infrastructures.