BERLIN: Every day as he settles into his desk, Erhard Grundl, a German lawmaker, looks outside his office window into the embassy he knows may be spying on him. “I come into the office, and on a windy day, I see the Russian flag waving. It feels abit like Psalm 23: ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,’” he said, chuckling. “I’m not religious, but I always think of that. ”
In the shadow of Berlin’s glass-domed Reichstag, beyond the sandstone columns of Brandenburg Gate, German parliamentary buildings sit cheek by jowl with Russia’s sprawling, Stalinist-style diplomatic mission. For years, a silent espionage struggle played out here along the city’s iconic Under den Linden avenue.
Members of parliament like Grundl were warned by intelligence offices to protect themselves — to turn computerscreens away from the window, stop using wireless devices that were easier to tap, and close the window blinds for meetings. It seems an almost comical situation for officials in one of Europe’s most powerful nations, where tensions over Russian espionage were something Germany’s government long seemed willing to ignore. That has become increasingly difficult since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Late last month, Rus-sia exposed what it described as a“mass expulsion” of its diplomats in Germany when it announced a tit-for-tat expulsion of more than 20 German diplomats from Moscow. It was a rare sign, security analysts say, of a subdued but growing counterintelligence effort that Berlin is now belatedly undertaking, after years of increasingly brazen Russian intelligence operations on German soil.
At least twice, Russian groups suspected of Kremlin links have hacked German politicians and parliament — the last time just months before the 2021 elections. In 2021, police arrested a security guard at the nearby British Embassy who had been spying for Russia. And late last year, in perhaps in the most disturbing case of all, a German intelligence officer was unmasked as a mole passing surveillance of Ukraine war to Mo-scow. Germany’s foreign ministry has been tight-lipped about the latest expulsions — even refusing to call them expulsions. But it acknowledged the diplomats’ departure was linked to “reducing the Russian intelligence presence in Germany. ”
At the heart of the debate over Germany’s handling of Russian espionage is the Russian Embassy. Before the fullscale invasion of Ukraine, the embassy was famous for lavish parties that attracted top German car industry executives, politicians, soccer stars and actors. But it had a darker side: Two of its inhabitants have mysteriously fallen to their deaths from embassy windows. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency told ARD it found potential espionage equipment on the embassy roof — perhaps to spy on lawmakers across the street, like Grundl.
In the shadow of Berlin’s glass-domed Reichstag, beyond the sandstone columns of Brandenburg Gate, German parliamentary buildings sit cheek by jowl with Russia’s sprawling, Stalinist-style diplomatic mission. For years, a silent espionage struggle played out here along the city’s iconic Under den Linden avenue.
Members of parliament like Grundl were warned by intelligence offices to protect themselves — to turn computerscreens away from the window, stop using wireless devices that were easier to tap, and close the window blinds for meetings. It seems an almost comical situation for officials in one of Europe’s most powerful nations, where tensions over Russian espionage were something Germany’s government long seemed willing to ignore. That has become increasingly difficult since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Late last month, Rus-sia exposed what it described as a“mass expulsion” of its diplomats in Germany when it announced a tit-for-tat expulsion of more than 20 German diplomats from Moscow. It was a rare sign, security analysts say, of a subdued but growing counterintelligence effort that Berlin is now belatedly undertaking, after years of increasingly brazen Russian intelligence operations on German soil.
At least twice, Russian groups suspected of Kremlin links have hacked German politicians and parliament — the last time just months before the 2021 elections. In 2021, police arrested a security guard at the nearby British Embassy who had been spying for Russia. And late last year, in perhaps in the most disturbing case of all, a German intelligence officer was unmasked as a mole passing surveillance of Ukraine war to Mo-scow. Germany’s foreign ministry has been tight-lipped about the latest expulsions — even refusing to call them expulsions. But it acknowledged the diplomats’ departure was linked to “reducing the Russian intelligence presence in Germany. ”
At the heart of the debate over Germany’s handling of Russian espionage is the Russian Embassy. Before the fullscale invasion of Ukraine, the embassy was famous for lavish parties that attracted top German car industry executives, politicians, soccer stars and actors. But it had a darker side: Two of its inhabitants have mysteriously fallen to their deaths from embassy windows. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency told ARD it found potential espionage equipment on the embassy roof — perhaps to spy on lawmakers across the street, like Grundl.