Did the Foreign Office let in Pakistani agents?
In the Visa Affair, new accusations against the Foreign Ministry. According to a media report, Baerbock's house allowed suspected Pakistani agents to enter Germany.
There are new accusations against the Foreign Ministry, led by Annalena Baerbock, in the Visa Affair. According to the magazine "Cicero," citing confidential documents from the Foreign Office, suspected agents of the Pakistani intelligence service were able to enter Germany under false pretenses.
In a confidential correspondence between the embassy in the Pakistani capital Islamabad and Berlin in February 2023, there is information about a seven-member family who received a settlement permit from the German government. The family had come to Germany despite a warning from the German embassy in Islamabad within the framework of an Afghan resettlement program.
"The main person and family could have been deliberately provided with Afghan identities. [...] The suspicion is strong that this is a case orchestrated by Pakistani authorities," it says in the documents, according to "Cicero."
Warning due to suspicious behavior
The warning came about due to the suspicious behavior of the alleged father of the seven-member family, who reportedly made suspicious statements and contradicted himself several times. Suspicion was also aroused by the "highly educated, almost military and well-groomed impression" of the father, who claimed to be persecuted by the Taliban.
The confidential warning document reached Berlin in February 2023 - at a time when five of the seven alleged family members had already been in Germany for several months.
Since February of the previous year, it has been alleged that the minister and her officials allowed people with forged or incomplete documents to enter Germany, including Syrians, Afghans, and Turks.
Baerbock dismisses accusations
The new accusations also directly target Foreign Minister Baerbock because she personally advocated for easier entry for Afghans. According to a written directive from the ministry, which "Cicero" obtained: "The formal approach to using established instruments such as document verification is not always effective and must be carefully considered and expanded."
This assumption is also supported by the initial disregard of the Federal Interior Ministry's requests to conduct additional security interviews for entries from Afghanistan. In another internal document of the Foreign Office, there is talk of "interest conflicts in the federal government" between the two ministries.
Baerbock did not want to deviate from her stance and added the comment: "We should not accept that. Stay firm, even if it escalates to the level of the Federal Minister." Only when another public warning from the German embassy in Islamabad in March 2023 became known did the Foreign Office heed the request of the Federal Interior Ministry and introduce additional security interviews.
Against RTL/ntv, Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock dismissed the accusations and noted that security interviews were being conducted precisely to prevent suspicious people from being issued visas. Unanswered is how the warning from the embassy in February 2023 was only taken note of in Berlin after a large part of the suspects had already entered the country.
The new accusations against the Foreign Ministry, led by Annalena Baerbock, suggest that suspected Pakistani agents were granted entry into Germany under false pretenses during the Visa Affair. This allegation is based on a report by "Cicero" citing confidential documents from the Foreign Office.
The confidential warning document, which reached Berlin in February 2023, flagged suspicious behavior and contradictory statements from a alleged father of a seven-member Afghan family who had entered Germany despite a warning from the German embassy in Islamabad.
The new accusations against Baerbock are significant as she has been a vocal advocate for easier entry for Afghans, and there are reports suggesting that her ministry disregarded requests from the Federal Interior Ministry to conduct additional security interviews for entries from Afghanistan.
