By Andreas Rinke and Lili Bayer
BERLIN, Oct 8 (Reuters) – European intelligence services are trying to find out whether secret information was compromised by former German spy chief August Hanning and what risks this raised, intelligence officials said following his arrest this week.
The arrest of Hanning, a former head of Germany’s BND foreign intelligence service, on suspicion of espionage and treason has sent shock waves through the security and intelligence sectors. His former chief of staff at the agency was also arrested.
German media have said the case does not appear to involve Russia. But allegations that hundreds of confidential documents were trafficked, and that intelligence may have been passed to foreign officials, have dealt a blow to the BND’s international credibility at a time of rising security alarms.
Days earlier, the current head of the BND said Germany faced a real risk of a violent conflict with Russia, accusing Moscow of mounting a “shadow war” of hybrid and drone attacks.
“This is a total disaster,” said a German security official, describing the possible implications for the BND’s relations with partner services as “very, very serious”.
Hanning, who left the BND in 2005, set up a private consultancy business after retiring from public service and faces allegations of agreeing to pay an official identified as Manfred D. to supply him with confidential documents.
Manfred D., who was chief of staff to a succession of BND heads including Hanning and who retired in March 2026, is accused of supplying him with nearly 2,000 documents, at least some of them classified as confidential.
Hanning is suspected of having briefed foreign intelligence officials using information from the documents. It remains unclear what was passed on and who the other parties were.
Azerbaijan has denied reports of contacts between Hanning and Azeri officials. Prosecutors have declined to comment.
RISK ASSESSMENTS
German media said many of the documents concerned were briefing papers prepared for the Chancellor’s office or other senior officials, rather than raw intelligence material.
One European intelligence official told Reuters that some European services were now conducting reviews of the risk to material they have shared with Germany in the past.
Another official from an allied service said they were checking on potential damage and expected all other partner agencies to be doing the same.
A third Western official said intelligence from the CIA was included in documents stolen from the BND. The CIA has not commented on the case.
The allegations cover a period when Hanning was no longer working for the government, but an interior ministry spokesperson said officials were investigating “possible breaches of confidentiality regulations” by Hanning during his service.
Following a victory for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in a state election in eastern Germany last month, German intelligence officials have fretted about the risk of leaks to Moscow by Russia-friendly officials with access to confidential information.
But the Hanning case has caused particular shock because Hanning and Manfred D. came from deep within the security establishment.
It is a sensitive time for the intelligence services as Germany builds up its defence forces to confront the perceived threat from Russia. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government approved plans this year to beef up the intelligence services, set up after World War Two with much more circumscribed powers than many of their partner agencies.
Hanning has not commented on the allegations. Pluteos, a Swiss-based security consultancy where Hanning served as board chairman, and one of his lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The German news magazine Der Spiegel quoted one of his lawyers as saying their client had confidential documents in his possession but denying he had harmed national security by passing on or selling information to any third parties.
“My client is being wrongfully prosecuted,” the magazine quoted a statement from the lawyer as saying.
SPOTLIGHT ON EX-OFFICIALS’ BUSINESS CAREERS
The case has again put the spotlight on the business careers of former officials, even where there is no suggestion of wrongdoing. Days earlier, former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who has faced criticism over his links to Russian business and President Vladimir Putin, joined the supervisory board of Russian retailer Hyperglobus.
The parliamentary committee that oversees intelligence services said it was “problematic” that former civil servants with in-depth knowledge of security matters or intelligence take up private-sector roles without being vetted.
Konstantin von Notz, a member of the parliamentary supervisory committee, said Hanning’s case made clear there were “structural problems” that the government should address.
“Confidence in the integrity of the work carried out by the German intelligence services must not be betrayed, particularly in view of the clear expectations of our partner intelligence services,” he said. “That would be disastrous given the current security situation.”
Senior intelligence officials in many countries regularly provide security consultancy services after leaving government service, but officials in Germany said the Hanning case suggested stricter controls were necessary.
Andy Grote, interior minister for the state government of Hamburg, said the case raised questions about “what kinds of employment and business activities should actually be permitted for senior members of security agencies during and after their term of service.”
(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris, Erin Banco in Washington and Friederike Heine in Berlin; Writing by James Mackenzie, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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