The Guardian reports:

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency is investigating allegations that two senior civil servants working in the economy ministry could have been spying for Russia, according to a local media report.

Die Zeit, which first revealed the case, said the officials being investigated had close involvement with energy supply issues and held key positions.

The economy ministry and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s domestic intelligence agency, would not comment on the reports. The economy ministry would only say that it was in continual dialogue with the BfV, and that the ministry found itself “under particular focus” due to its work tackling the energy crisis.

Die Zeit said it was aware of the names and pay grades of the officials under suspicion, but it was not at liberty to publish them. The employees have been described as holding a “pro-Russia stance” and are suspected of having sought to obstruct the policies of the economy minister, Robert Habeck, over the past few months.

The newspaper said it was members of the Green party, to which Habeck belongs, who took the complaint to the BfV, possibly directed by Habeck himself.

Habeck was an opponent of the now defunct gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 long before it was abandoned by the German government in protest at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [Continue reading…]