GERMANY cannot be trusted to share the UK’s share of Five Eyes intelligence secrets "as long as it remains infiltrated by Russia”, experts warned last night.
It follows the airing by Russian propaganda network RT of a classified meeting between Germany military officials, including the head of its air force Lt Gen Ingo Gerhart.
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In the video conference they discussed challenges and logistics of delivering much-needed Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, and revealed that British soldiers were on the ground in Ukraine, helping Ukrainian troops to fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles against targets behind Russian lines.
Germany has long been regarded as Nato’s soft underbelly when it comes to Russian infiltration, because of a political decision by Berlin to retain close links to Moscow.
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The so-called “arc of appeasement’ can be dated from Gerard Schroeder’s chancellorship – he went on to earn $1m a year from Russian state-owned energy companies - through the 16- year premiership of Angela Merkel, leading some experts to conclude that Vladimir Putin was emboldened by relations of the EU’s most economically wealthy state to launch his 2022 full scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Steps include rejecting pleas to arm and train Ukrainian troops after Russia’s 2014 invasion of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, with Berlin instead pushing for a diplomatic solution through the now discredited Minsk agreements.
This was swiftly followed with the Nord Stream pipeline deal between Berlin and Moscow, with a defiant Angela Merkel justifying her actions by saying: “Well, the economy wants it and we need to convince the Russians we do not need to escalate."
In 2022 the Sunday Express revealed how Berlin happily arrested Georgian war hero Brig-Gen Giorgi Kalandadze - hailed as the "Lion of Georgia" for leading the defence against Russia’s invasion in 2008 - after a request from Moscow-controlled Tbilisi.
Gen Kalandadze successfully fought the arrest and has been leading troops in Ukraine ever since.
Two weeks ago he was featured on Russia’s official “enemies list”
a Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile (Image: Getty)
Germany has been seeking full admittance to Five Eyes for more than two decades.
The intelligence club was formed in 1946 between the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand and is envied even by Russia and China for enabling seamless sharing of all signals intelligence between the five allies. The agreement also carries an understanding that they will not spy on each other.
In 2018 Germany was made an associate member in a bid to persuade it to adopt a more cautious approach in relations with China, though this has largely been ignored by Berlin.
While both the US and UK- who enjoy a special level of intelligence sharing within Five Eyes - routinely share select intelligence with EU member states, distrust of “leaky Germany” has kept the information pipeline tightly restricted.
Nathalie Vogel, of the Institute of World Politics, said: “Russians are today harvesting the results of many decades worth of influence operations.
“They are successfully influencing the political discourse after planting proxy MPs at the Bundestag, particularly in the Afd, the far right. And on the left side we have communists tied to Russia’s GRU intelligence agency.“
She added: “Germany’ has been living in the fairytale that it was Neue Ostpolitik - the decision by West Germany to engage with East Germany - that tore down the Berlin Wall, when the truth was it was Ronald Reagan’s policies. There are still those who occupy senior office in decision-making circles who believe in negotiation at any price. “
Olaf Scholz's refusal to provode Ukraine with long range Taurus cruise missiles for fear it will escalate the situation with Russia is an example of this, said Vogel.
His extensive aid package to Ukraine, she said, was forced on him by coalition partners, citing that Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, belongs to the the more hawkish Greens Party, as opposed to the Social Democratic Party, to which Schroeder also belonged.
“Access to Five Eyes is a privilege which should not be afforded to Germany," added Vogel. "But it doesn’t mean we should allow Russia to divide the alliance."
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Security expert Edward Lucas, of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) think tank, said: “On no account can Germany be trusted with meaningful access to Five Eyes intelligence.
“What Nato needs from Germany is that it finally allows full access across its territory for advancing Nato troops in times of war, and that it pays its dues.”
Luke Coffey of the Hudson Institute, and a Special Assistant to former defence secretary Dr Liam Fox, said: “As a system Five Eyes is the envy of the world and Germany can simply not be trusted to have access to it in its fullest form.”
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