In brief

• US intelligence services told the BND that cooperation will be reviewed after the arrest of former BND president August Hanning.
• Hanning and his former office head Manfred D. were detained about three weeks ago; prosecutors suspect attempted treason, disclosure of state secrets and espionage.
• Washington reportedly plans to keep sharing information in urgent cases such as possible terror attacks.
• The BND declined to comment, and Berlin says it has seen no sign of restrictions so far.

Warning from Washington after an arrest in Berlin

About three weeks ago, prosecutors arrested August Hanning, a former head of the BND who had worked as a security adviser after leaving the service. His former office head, Manfred D., was detained at the same time (Festnahme von August Hanning: US-Geheimdienste überprüfen offenbar Kooperation mit dem BND – ZEIT ONLINE) (Aresztowano byłego szefa niemieckiego wywiadu. Amerykanie reagują: współpraca z BND pod lupą – Deutsche Welle). The Federal Prosecutor General alleges that Hanning, with help from the long-serving BND official D., obtained sensitive documents from the service over roughly twelve years, and that in at least one case he tried to pass them on. Prosecutors are investigating him on suspicion of attempted treason, the disclosure of state secrets and espionage; the allegations have not been established in court (ЗМІ: У США погрожували зменшити співпрацю з німецькою розвідкою після арешту її ексглави – Українська правда) (Spionagefall Hanning - Medien: US-Dienste prüfen Zusammenarbeit mit BND – Deutschlandfunk).

What the US signalled

Several days after the arrest, the BND received a message from US services saying that existing cooperation would be subjected to a thorough review (USA grożą ograniczeniem współpracy z BND. Niemcy mówią o katastrofie – Onet). According to reports from WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Americans left room for exceptions: in urgent cases, such as possible terror attacks, Washington intended to keep providing information to Germany (Prüfung der Zusammenarbeit: US-Dienste warnten BND nach Hanning-Festnahme – tagesschau.de).

Unease inside the BND

The announcement caused considerable concern in the agency, according to the same reporting. German security authorities have depended on US intelligence for decades, and several staff members told journalists that they believed both the volume and the quality of information received from Washington had dropped. Berlin, by contrast, says it has seen no sign of restrictions.

Official responses

A BND spokesperson and the US embassy declined to comment on the reports. The Federal Prosecutor General opened the investigation into Hanning earlier in October.