The government wanted to give more powers to the secret services, but then their former head was arrested on charges of espionage and treason.
In Germany, the arrest of the former head of the Federal Foreign Intelligence Service (BND) on charges of espionage and treason has thrown Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s plans to reform the German intelligence services into disarray. Over the summer, the government had tabled a bill to give the intelligence agencies more tools and autonomy to counter threats that come primarily from Russia: sabotage, border violations and other hybrid warfare tactics that Vladimir Putin’s regime is increasingly using against Europe and, in particular, against Germany. But then the most serious espionage scandal in the last fifty years of German history erupted.
The arrested former head is named August Hanning, now 80 years old. He headed the BND from 1998 to 2005 and was then state secretary in the Interior Ministry until his retirement in 2009. According to the federal prosecutor’s office, after leaving office, he allegedly asked a colleague who was still in the service, Manfred D., to pass on information in exchange for money.
Hanning is alleged to have then used this information for the private consultancy business he started after leaving the ministry. The exchange between him and Manfred D. is said to have continued until 2022 and led to the illegal release of around 2 documents, including intelligence reports that BND leaders prepare for the government.
According to the Financial Times, Hanning’s clients included wealthy individuals and politically connected individuals in Israel, Ukraine, Austria and Germany. On behalf of his clients, Hanning maintained contacts with colleagues in European and American intelligence services. According to several newspapers, Russia does not appear to be involved.
In one case, according to the prosecution, Hanning allegedly used material provided by Manfred D. to compile an analysis for an official of a foreign security service. According to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, it was about Azerbaijan, but this country’s government has denied this. Hanning was a member of the board of directors of the German-Azerbaijani Forum, a political and cultural association that promotes relations between the two countries in the economy, science and culture.
In another case, according to the prosecution, Hanning is alleged to have used his network of contacts to connect Christina Block, the heiress of a large German restaurant chain, with former Israeli intelligence agents working for a private company. The former agents are alleged to have helped Block kidnap her two children, who were in the custody of her ex-husband in Denmark, on New Year’s Eve 2023. Hanning is alleged to have received 100 euros for the engagement. Block and a former Israeli agent are still on trial in Germany for the kidnapping.
The Hanning case has highlighted the serious problems associated with high-ranking or former state officials who, by virtue of their duties, have or have had access to confidential information that they can sell in the context of illegal activities. It has also reopened the debate on how a state should reconcile the need to give these agents the powers they need to work effectively with the need to protect themselves from the leakage of confidential information. Many German MPs have called on the government to strengthen security measures following Hanning’s arrest, which could slow down Merz’s plans for reform.
The German Chancellor aimed to reform the secret services because the BND has fewer powers than other European intelligence agencies, for reasons related to the historical legacy of Nazism in Germany. In practice, the BND can only collect information: it cannot organize cyberattacks, sabotage or disinformation operations. So, compared to its European counterparts, it has fewer powers in the field of covert operations. The reform of the German services is considered even more urgent due to the intensification of Putin’s hybrid warfare. In recent months, Germany has suffered several attacks that have revealed significant weaknesses in its defense and counterintelligence capabilities.
In particular, the drone attack on Leipzig airport, which almost turned into an air disaster, as well as the news about an old weapons depot in Berlin, which was allegedly used by Russia to carry out targeted killings in Germany.
The promise of reform was already included in the government agreement presented in April 2025 by the coalition between the Christian Democrats, Merz’s center-right party, and the center-left Social Democrats. In July, the government published a draft law that expands the powers of the agents, especially in the field of cyberattacks. It stipulates that the agents can act “immediately” in the event of imminent danger, for example to delete data stolen from victims of cyberattacks. It also allows them to take “proactive action,” such as breaking into the computer systems of chemical weapons laboratories or drone factories.
There have been cases similar to Hanning’s in the past, involving agents selling information to other countries, such as Russia and the United States. For this reason, Konstantin von Notz, deputy chairman of the Greens parliamentary group, has called for the reform to include an explicit ban on former members of the secret services from engaging in private consultancy. The text still leaves many questions unresolved, and none of the provisions mentioned would have prevented the Hanning case, however. In September, the reform was submitted to the Bundestag, the German parliament, and the text is now being examined by the Home Affairs Committee. The Hanning case could extend the approval deadlines and bring about profound changes to it.