BERLIN
Interior minister Thomas de Maizire dismissed Wednesday accusations that he had lied to parliament about secret cooperation between the German intelligence agency BND and its U.S. counterpart NSA, but he failed to convince opposition lawmakers.
De Maizire told reporters, after testifying at the parliament’s oversight committee, that during his function as minister responsible for intelligence services from 2005 to 2009, he did not notice anything indicative of a possible industrial espionage attempt by NSA with the help of BND.
“I have not heard about any demand from the American side for a search item, parameter or a similar thing, which could be used for industrial espionage in Germany,” he said.
Merkel’s conservative-left coalition government has been under growing pressure since the weekly Der Spiegel reported on April 24 that the U.S. spy agency had carried out large-scale surveillance on European politicians and companies, using Germany's Bad Aibling station.
The secret cooperation between the BND and NSA reportedly began in 2002 and was aimed at spying on telephone and internet communications in conflict regions.
But an internal BND investigation carried out in 2013, after whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked details of the NSA's operations, revealed the U.S. spy agency had also spied on companies like aerospace giant EADS.
BND’s investigation reportedly showed that the NSA demanded at least 40,000 parameters to be targeted.
De Maiziere argued on Wednesday that in 2008, Americans proposed expanding cooperation on digital surveillance, but this was not backed by the German government.
Left Party lawmaker Andre Hahn, member of the Parliamentary Control Panel, said on Wednesday that de Maiziere’s statements were not satisfactory.
He claimed that various documents indicate that de Maiziere was well aware of the fact that Americans were not respecting the agreement and were following their own interests during the cooperation through Bad Aibling.
“Here, the oversight of the intelligence services has completely failed. This should have consequences for those who have been on the top of BND, and those who were responsible for the oversight at the Prime Ministry,” he told reporters.
The opposition Green Party lawmaker Hans-Christian Strobele criticized lawmakers from governing parties who claimed that minister de Maiziere is cleared from accusations after the hearing.
“The investigation of the case of minister de Maiziere is still open,” Strobele, a senior lawmaker of the Parliamentary Control Panel, said.
German opposition parties are demanding from the government a full list of telephone numbers, e-mail accounts and IP addresses monitored by the BND in cooperation with the NSA.
But Chancellor Angela Merkel has so far resisted that demand and argued that Berlin should first consult with Washington.
Merkel has also defended the BND’s cooperation with the NSA, despite recent revelations.
“In light of international terror threats, the ability of intelligence agencies to function can only be maintained in cooperation with other agencies, which includes first and foremost the NSA," she told reporters on Monday.
