Germany’s top spy under spotlight amid rise of far-right 0 SHARES Share it! Share TweetBy Agence France-PresseSecret services typically work away from the limelight, but Germany’s top domestic spy Hans-Georg Maassen has repeatedly crashed into the public eye, with his latest outing pitting him directly against Chancellor Angela Merkel. For critics, Maassen’s claim played into the hands of the far-right and his attitude was viewed as symptomatic of a domestic intelligence service widely believed to be riddled with far-right sympathizers. He headed the interior ministry’s counter-terrorism team before being appointed domestic spy chief. But it is his handling of the far-right AfD party that has proved most controversial, particularly as he was known to share the far-right party’s opposition to Merkel’s decision in 2015 to keep Germany’s borders open to asylum seekers.

Source: Manila Bulletin September 13, 2018 02:15 UTC