After former Federal Intelligence Service (BND) Chief August Hanning was arrested in Germany on espionage charges, current President Martin Jager called some allies, including the British and American intelligence services, and assured them that they were doing all the necessary work to determine what the leaked information was and to whom it was conveyed.
According to the news of The Telegraph newspaper, based on British sources, BND President Jager called the heads of the intelligence services of allied countries regarding the espionage incident in which former President Hanning was arrested.
Jager assured allied countries, including the British foreign intelligence service MI6 and the British Electronic Intelligence Service (GCHQ) and the heads of US intelligence services, that everything necessary was being done to determine what the leaked material was and to whom it was delivered.
There are fears that British spies will be exposed
According to the newspaper, MI6 and GCHQ are estimated to have launched an internal investigation into sensitive information sharing with Germany around the time the leaks occurred.
Intelligence agencies primarily aim to protect intelligence sources and information compromised by leaks.
There are also concerns that British spies will be exposed due to the materials Hanning leaked.
While all this is happening, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham will hold official contacts in Germany tomorrow.
Burnham and his German counterpart Friedrich Merz are expected to discuss the progress made in the first year of the Kensington Agreement, the bilateral defense and intelligence cooperation agreement, in this meeting.
What is Hanning accused of?
In the statement made yesterday by the Federal Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was stated that former BND Chairman Hanning was taken into custody and that he was accused of espionage in the nature of treason, investigating state secrets, attempting treason and espionage.
In the statement, which included the information that German citizen Manfred D, as well as Hanning, who was the BND President between 1998 and 2005, was also detained, it was claimed that Manfred D provided Hanning with approximately 2 thousand documents, most of which were classified as confidential, until June 2022.
In the statement, it was claimed that Hanning prepared an analysis for an employee of another intelligence agency using the confidential information conveyed by Manfred D in an incident, that he was in intensive communication with a member of another state's intelligence service, and that he conveyed political information to this person for many years, some of which was based on materials he obtained from Manfred D.
How did the process develop?
It was stated that some documents and findings were seized during the search of Hanning's house within the scope of the investigation carried out by the Hamburg Prosecutor's Office against businessman Christina Block and other suspects in September 2025.
Following the review of the findings, it was noted that the investigation was transferred to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, which is responsible for investigating espionage and treason crimes, at the beginning of this year.
In the case regarding the incident, which was ongoing in the Hamburg State Court, Hanning was accused of being involved in the kidnapping attempt of two children of the Block family.
The statement of the children's father, Stefan Hansel, in September 2025, regarding the incident in which employees of an Israeli security company, of which Hanning was a board member, allegedly forced two children living with their father in Denmark into a car on New Year's Eve in 2024 and took them to Germany to their mother, Christina Block, was brought to the agenda again.
