German ex-spy chief pushes Angela Merkel’s CDU further right

July 21, 2019

Hans-Georg Maassen, the man once in charge of tracking political extremists in Germany, has developed a brash second career on social media since his sacking last year.

Largely delivered on Twitter, Maassen’s provocative pronouncements have created another headache for Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which is facing an uncertain era after the chancellor’s retirement.

Maassen’s tweets have also raised questions about how his political opinions may have influenced the direction investigations took during his six years as head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).

Maassen’s office, from which he was fired last year by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, is in charge of keeping tabs on the activities of Islamists, neo-Nazis and antifa groups inside Germany.

Read more: Germany records small uptick in far-right violence

Anti-immigration and climate science

The most controversial of these social media posts came last Monday, when Maassen shared an article by right-wing blog Journalistenwatch claiming that the rescue of migrants by the ship Sea-Watch 3 was effectively a hoax orchestrated by German public broadcaster ARD.

Several media outlets subsequently pointed out that Journalistenwatch was run by the founders of a now-defunct minor right-wing party called Die Freiheit (The Freedom), which itself was under observation by the BfV. It also frequently signals support for the pan-European Identitarian Movement, another far-right group that has caught the attention of the office Maassen once ran.

But while that tweet was subsequently deleted, Maassen seems to have developed a taste for the notoriety his social media presence has triggered.

In the past week, the ex-intelligence chief’s tweets have included posting an article denying the climate crisis in Cologne-based tabloid Express, comparisons between the German public broadcasters and the dictatorship-led media of communist East Germany and a cartoon implying that media outlet Der Spiegel mainly contains fairy tales. He also had more criticism of the rescue missions in the Mediterranean:

“Don’t let yourself be persuaded that this is about rescuing people at sea,” he tweeted on Friday. “These migrants aren’t shipwrecked people, and not refugees. They have boarded trafficker boats as would-be foreign immigrants to get brought to Europe by a shuttle service.”

Pushing the conservative CDU

There have been many clues to Maassen’s political leanings since his departure from the BfV last year, which came after he cast doubt on videos that showed people of immigrant background being attacked in Chemnitz. Seehofer attempted to find Maassen a job in his ministry, but the outcry proved too great for the government.

Maassen’s Twitter profile, which is emblazoned with a slogan “Change. Germany can do better,” also includes a link to the Werte Union (“Union of Values”), an organization that represents the conservative wing of the CDU and sees its main purpose in reviving what it believes are values that the CDU leadership has lost.

Maassen has become the Werte Union’s most prominent public face in the last few weeks, and it has seen an uptick in membership over the past two years.

Of all the high-profile figures on the right of the CDU (another is erstwhile leadership challenger Friedrich Merz), Maassen has been the most radical in his anti-immigration declarations.

At a Werte Union event in Wernheim, southern Germany, in late June, the 56-year-old sparked another media storm by saying, “I didn’t join the CDU 30 years ago so that 1.8 million Arabs could come to Germany.” That statement was greeted with cheers from the assembled party members, according to a report in the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, and drew plenty of outrage from opposition leaders.

Maassen described his own political position as “not conservative, just realistic,” but other signs suggest he is not above political strategy: In mid-June, he gave an interview to public radio station Deutschlandfunk in which he suggested that a coalition with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was not out of the question in future.

The AfD is currently polling first in some states in eastern Germany, three of which are due to hold elections this fall, putting the CDU under considerable pressure from the right. All the leading figures in the CDU have so far ruled out forming a government with populist AfD, but there are signs that the resolve in the upper echelons of some regional CDU parties is starting to buckle.

Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

Shadowy figure

Hans-Georg Maassen, the former head of Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) — the domestic intelligence service — has often drawn fire for his remarks and actions. Calls for him to step down have been a constant throughout his long career.

Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

Trouble in the Interior Ministry

Maassen gained notoriety in 2002 while working for the German Interior Ministry and arguing that Murat Kurnaz, a German resident held in the US prison at Guantanamo for five years before being released, could not return to Germany because his residency had lapsed. Herta Däubler-Gmelin, who was justice minister at the time, called Maassen’s argument, “false, appalling and inhumane.”

Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

Vows to restore trust

In 2012, Maassen was tapped to lead Germany’s top spy agency. He promised to restore faith in the BfV, which was embroiled in controversy over its entanglement in the right-wing extremist scene and his predecessor’s decision to destroy files related to the neo-Nazi NSU murders.

Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

First calls for firing

Maassen has been accused of having “a troubled relationship with basic democratic principles” for his pursuit of bloggers on grounds of treason and trying to suppress negative stories on the BfV. In January 2017, he told parliament reports the BfV had undercover agents in the Islamist scene connected to the Berlin Christmas market attack were false. Records showing it did became public in 2018.

Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

Sympathies for the right?

Before Maassen made headlines by questioning the veracity of videos of right-wing protesters chasing foreigners through the streets of Chemnitz, he was under fire for advising right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) on how to avoid scrutiny from his agency. He has also been accused of sharing confidential documents with the AfD before presenting them to the public.

Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

One faithful friend …

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (r.) continued to support Maassen even after his controversial remarks over Chemnitz. Seehofer even took the ex-spy chief into the Interior Ministry in what was essentially a promotion. But that compromise has not been seen favorably by many in Germany, and failed to calm troubled waters within the ruling coalition over the affair.

Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

… but not forever

But following controversial remarks made by Maassen in a farewell speech, in which he attacked the ruling coalition for “weak” policies on refugees and security, even having friends in high places seems not to be enough. Maassen still has those who take his part, however: The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party says it would welcome him with open arms.

Author: Jon Shelton