Germany plans to dismiss the head of the Information Security Agency on suspicion of dealing with Russia

Germany plans to dismiss the head of the National Agency for Information Security, Arne Schönbaum, over reports of his links with Russian intelligence services, government sources said Monday.

The German Interior Ministry said it was “seriously looking at the reports and thoroughly investigating them”.

Schönbaum participated in the creation of a foundation known as the “German Cyber ​​Security Council” in 2012 to advise companies, government agencies and decision-makers, on information security issues.

The institution is currently under sharp criticism for its alleged links with Russian intelligence services.

According to an investigation by a satirical program on the ZDF television network, “Schönbaum is still associated with the institution”.

Handelsblatt newspaper reported great discontent within the government over the accusations.

The German Ministry of the Interior was considering all options regarding dealing with the situation.

In turn, the “German Cyber ​​Security Council” denied the accusations, describing them as ridiculous.

In recent years, Germany has accused Russia of being behind the electronic espionage attempts.

The last of the largest of these attempts, in which Russian hackers are accused, is due to a cyber attack in 2015 that paralyzed the computer network of the Bundestag, which led to the internet being cut off from the entire parliament for days, while Russia denies being behind these activities.

The accusations against Schönbaum come at a time when German police are investigating an act of sabotage targeting railway infrastructure, while some officials have pointed the finger at Russia in the wake of the explosions on Nord Stream pipelines.

Important communication cables were cut at two sites on Saturday, forcing rail services to stop for three hours and causing chaos for thousands of commuters.

This comes after the commander of the Regional Command of the German Army announced, on Sunday, that “it is possible to launch attacks on the country’s infrastructure,” stressing the readiness to address them.

The German army official’s statement came a day after a “sabotage” act targeted the wireless infrastructure, and caused a major disruption to the railway network in Germany.

The “sabotage act” was followed by a fire in the subway station in the heart of the German city of Cologne, which caused a complete stop to train traffic in the area for nearly 3 hours yesterday morning.

The German police that they “didn’t rule out political motives behind what is suspected of sabotaging the communication lines of the railway network,” but that “there is no indication of the involvement of a foreign country or terrorism”.