German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has decided that Hans-Georg Maasen, president of the Federal Office for the Protection (Bfv), must be sacked after making controversial comments in relation to far-right marches in Chemnitz, the newspaper “WELT” reported on Monday.
According to the report, Merkel will demand Maasen’s replacement at a special cabinet session on Tuesday regardless of whether or not interior minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) continues to back the BfV president. “WELT” cited government circles who had been informed accordingly by the chancellor over the weekend.
The leadership of the German Social Democrats (SPD), who form a coalition government together with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), recently urged Merkel to personally ensure that Maasen would be fired. Earlier, the BfV president publicly questioned the authenticity of video footage depicting far-right protestors chasing foreign-looking civilians in Chemnitz.
By telling the newspaper “WELT” that information obtained by his agency offered no evidence for chases of foreigners having taken place, Maasen hereby directly contradicted Merkel as well as local security authorities on the issue. He was consequently ordered by interior minister Seehofer to present a clarifying report which “substantiates his thesis” in which he backtracked on his original statement and complained about having been misunderstood.
The demonstrations in question have been widely-publicized and were inspired by the alleged murder of a German by two immigrants. During the marches, some protestors resorted to violence, chanted Nazi slogans, and showcased general hostility towards foreign looking civilians.
For Seehofer, who has come under fire himself for saying that he would have joined the Chemnitz marches if he were not a federal minister, the explanation offered by Maasen sufficed to restore trust in his ability to run the BfV. “Maasen still has my confidence as president of the BfV,” the interior minister told delegates during a speech in the federal parliament (Bundestag).
However, the SPD has since vocally expressed its disappointment at the leniency shown by Seehofer towards Maasen in the affair. The resulting confrontation between different members of Merkel’s cabinet was seen in German media reports as potentially heralding a political crisis in the “grand coalition.”
Maasen has previously also been accused of offering the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party clandestine advice on how to prevent being monitored by the BfV, a claim he vigorously denies. The AfD helped organize and defended the Chemnitz marches, leading to growing calls from senior German policymakers, including several senior SPD politicians, for links between the party and right-wing extremists to be scrutinized by the BfV.
Speaking on Sunday, SPD secretary general Lars Klingbeil expressed confidence that, no matter the outcome of current deliberations over whether or not to investigate the AfD, Maasen would no longer be in charge of the agency following the special cabinet session on Tuesday. “I am certain that the result will be that Mr. Maasen must leave,” Klingbeil told the public broadcaster “ZDF”.
Similarly, SPD leader Andrea Nahles vowed at a party event on Sunday that there would be consequences for the intelligence chief. “Mr. Maasen must go, and I tell you, he will go,” Nahles said.
So far, Merkel and Seehofer have both emphasized in vague terms to the press that coalition agreement underpinning the federal government is not threatened by the controversy. “WELT” reported that Merkel is trying to find a compromise to enable Seehofer to complete the political U-turn implied by his firing of Maasen without losing face.