Azerbaijan has moved from publicly rejecting reports linking it to the investigation of former German intelligence chief August Hanning to lodging a diplomatic protest with Berlin.
Official objections were conveyed to the German Chancellor’s Office and Foreign Office, according to diplomatic sources cited by APA and Vesti Baku. The protest was delivered through diplomatic channels and contacts between the two countries’ security services.
Reaction Moves to the State-to-State Level
Azerbaijan’s Media and Broadcasting Council had earlier rejected reports of a possible Azerbaijani link as disinformation. The diplomatic protest marks a separate escalation of Baku’s response by taking the dispute to the German government.
Der Spiegel reported that Hanning may have prepared secret analytical material in the interests of the Azerbaijani side. However, the public statement by Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office did not identify Azerbaijan or any specific foreign intelligence service.
German prosecutors allege that Hanning, after leaving government service, obtained classified documents and used some of the information to prepare an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. A former BND official identified as Manfred D. is suspected of supplying about 2,000 documents over several years.
Neither man has been convicted, and the investigation is continuing. The identity of the alleged foreign recipient has not been officially confirmed.
No Public German Response Yet
The report of the protest was attributed to diplomatic sources. No public response from the German Chancellor’s Office or Foreign Office had been reported at the time of publication.
Source: Vesti Baku.