“Russia could be behind it, or…!” – The sensational arrest of the former German intelligence chief, the expert comments

International relations expert Ledion Krisafi has commented on the alleged case of the recruitment of an intelligence service chief in Germany, describing it as one of the biggest espionage stories.

He stressed for ABC News that intelligence service chiefs are persons for whom public information is limited and that their position is accompanied by a kind of shield against the exposure of data.

Krisafi said that, based on the signs that have been made public, there is a possibility that Russia or China stands behind the recruitment, although he ruled out the Chinese scenario as less likely.

He described Vienna and Berlin as two of the main centres of espionage in Europe and recalled the history of Russian services’ activity in Germany.

“It is one of the biggest espionage stories. It has rarely happened that the chief of the service is recruited, especially for a large country like Germany. They are persons who do not have fully public information; the one who is the head of the service has a kind of shield against information. At first sight he gave the impression of a bureaucrat; there is no data that Russia recruited him. The signs are that it could have been either Russia or China. I do not believe it is China, because he was a service chief in the 1990s. For the Russians it is no great surprise that it happened. If there are some places in Europe that are capitals of espionage, it is Vienna and Berlin. Germany has had structures of Russian espionage from the time; in the 1990s there was no significant activity.”