Germany’s spy chief, removed from his job after being accused of far-right sympathies but moved to a more senior government role, will not get the promotion after all.
There had been widespread criticism of the deal to move Hans-Georg Maassen from his position as head of the Office of Constitutional Protection, which monitors extremist organizations, to State Secretary in the Interior Ministry, a role that came with with security responsibilities.
The outrage triggered new discussions between the three key figures in the ruling coalition — Chancellor Angela Merkel, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, and Social Democrats leader Andrea Nahles over the weekend.
According to a government statement Sunday night, Maassen will still make the move to the Interior Ministry, but will become a special adviser in European and international affairs, a position in the same pay grade as his former role as intelligence chief.
The botched handling of Maassen’s move has raised serious questions over the competence and stability of the coalition, which was cobbled together in January.
Maassen is accused of questioning the validity of a video showing far-right protesters apparently chasing migrants without any evidence to support his claim, and therefore legitimizing attempts by far-right groups to downplay the violence in the eastern city of Chemnitz last month. He later backtracked, saying he had been misunderstood.
The government response to Maassen’s comments was widely criticized, as was his promotion last week, which was seen as a victory for Seehofer, leader of the Christian Social Union, the more conservative sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democrats, and staunch defender of Maassen.
Florian Post, SPD lawmaker in Bavaria, described the decision to promote Maassen as a “joke,” while Families Minister and SPD lawmaker Franziska Giffey condemned the move and called for Seehofer to go, according to Reuters.
Pressure to renegotiate Maassen’s relocation was strongest on Nahles, who has been leader of the SPD for just five months. Calls for Maassen to go had been the loudest within her party.