Left-Extremist Endeavours

Accession of Poland, the
Czech Republic and Hungary
to NATO
Germany continues to be
the preferred intelligence
target
Russia
Iran
Syria
Espionage
and Other Intelligence Activities
I. Overview
As a result of the efforts aimed at achieving a durable peace order
in Europe, a number of formerly political and tradecraft adversaries
turned into allies. After the accession of Poland, the
Czech Republic and Hungary to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) in the spring of 1999 172) , these countries have, in
the meantime, entered into negotiations on their accession to the
European Union (EU). Other countries - e.g. Bulgaria, Romania,
Slovenia - intend to follow suit.
However, the end of the Cold War and the positive developments
in some countries of the former Eastern Bloc must not blind anybody
to the fact that, as before, Germany continues to be a
preferred target of the intelligence services of a number of foreign
nations. This is exemplified, for instance, by the following
current intelligence:
In late July, intelligence acquired by counterespionage services
led to the arrest of two German nationals - a self-employed businessman
and a diploma’d engineer - in Lower Saxony and in
Bavaria, respectively; they are accused of having provided a
Russian intelligence service with documents from the defence
industry sector against payment of large sums of money.
Following preliminary investigations by agencies for the Protection
of the Constitution, another two German nationals were unmasked
as agents; they had, for remuneration, supplied documents
from their respective area of activity first to the KGB and,
after its dissolution, to a Russian intelligence service. In mid-December,
they were sentenced by the Berlin Higher Regional
Court of Appeal to prison terms of one year and ten months and
of eight months, respectively. Execution of the sentences was
suspended (on probation).
Also in July, an Iranian national was arrested in Berlin. As established
by counterintelligence agencies, he is said to have spied,
on behalf of an Iranian intelligence service, on Iranians living in
Germany who are in opposition to the regime of their country of
origin. Most of these are reported to be supporters of the organization
"People’s Mujahiddin of Iran" (MEK).
Following investigations by counterintelligence agencies, a
Syrian national was arrested in Northern Germany in May. In
October, he was finally convicted by the Hamburg Higher
Regional Court of Appeal to two years’ imprisonment on the
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