Hans-Georg Maassen (L), President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer attend a parliamentary committee hearing of the lower house of parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, September 12, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo
Reuters: Divided German leaders to meet next week over spymaster's future
BERLIN (Reuters) - The leaders of Germany’s ruling parties said they would meet on Tuesday to try to agree whether the embattled head of the domestic intelligence agency should keep his job, coalition sources told Reuters.
Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), has been under fire since a newspaper interview last week in which he questioned the authenticity of video footage showing right-wing extremists hounding migrants.
The center-left Social Democrats (SPD), coalition partners of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, want to fire Maassen. Conservative interior minister Horst Seehofer says he sees no reason to do so.
Merkel, Seehofer and SPD leader Andrea Nahles met at the chancellery for two hours on Thursday, but agreed to maintain silence on the issue until a follow-up meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the sources said.
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More News On Germany's Intelligence Chief Under Fire For Remarks On Right-Wing Extremists Hounding Migrants
Merkel Partners Call for Removal of German Spy Chief -- VOA/AP
German spy chief passed info to AfD: report -- DW
German spy chief has lost credibility, minister says -- Reuters
Security chiefs must be above suspicion: Germany's Scholz -- Reuters
Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career -- DW
