Bern Club

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The Berner Club (also Club de Berne or Club di Berna ), named after its founding place , which was also the seat of the CIA in Europe, consists of an informal association of all directors of the domestic intelligence services of the 28 EU member states as well as Norway and Switzerland. The "Berner Club" was founded in 1969 as an annual meeting of the directors of Western European domestic intelligence services and acts in secret. Founding members were Switzerland , the Federal Republic of Germany , France , Italy , Great Britain , Belgium , the Netherlands , Luxembourg and Denmark . Even without formal membership, Israel played a decisive role and the exchange with the Israeli domestic secret service Shin Bet and its foreign counterpart Mossad was intensive.

history

The "Bern Club" was initiated by the Italian secret service chief Umberto Federico d'Amato, who was with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during the Second World War and was a close collaborator of the US post-war connection with Italy and the CIA chief of defense James Jesus Angleton . In the founding year, at the suggestion of Israel , which felt threatened by the emerging Palestinian terrorism , an encrypted reporting system was set up between the member states and other countries. At first it was not only Israel but also the USA , later Canada , Australia , Ireland , Sweden , Norway and Spain were added.

In 1974 the club was given a new meaning in connection with the action against left-wing terrorist organizations such as the Red Army Fraction (Federal Republic of Germany) or the Red Brigades (Italy) and another reporting system, separate from the first, was set up.

From 1979 the Romanian secret service also belonged to the "Berner Club".

Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , the club has increased its importance as a body for political consultation between secret and state security services. The organization of the Alpine region has become a further supported international body.

In 2001 the club initiated the Counter Terrorism Group (CTG). This is to lead a European secret service center in The Hague since 2016 .

From the spring of 2016, explorations began with the police authority Europol, as the CTG is to network with the police structures of the EU or individual member states.

In 2017, the German MP Andrej Hunko described the Berner Club and its informal association CTG as "hardly controllable". He also criticized the increasing secrecy of police work.

structure

There is no secretariat . No resolutions are passed, the club serves to exchange views on the tasks and findings of the respective intelligence services .

The meetings take place twice a year and are prepared in turn.

public perception

In Austria, the Bern Club was repeatedly mentioned in the media in the context of the BVT affair , since Austrian membership has only participated or allowed to participate to a limited extent since the beginning of the affair, as the statements in the relevant parliamentary committee of inquiry and other court cases state.

In Germany, the Bern Club became known in the context of the controversy surrounding the statements made by the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maaßen, about the riots in Chemnitz in 2018 . His speech at the Bern Club on October 18, 2018 resulted in his being transferred to temporary retirement.

literature

  • Hans-Jürgen Lange: Internal security in the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany . VS Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-8100-2214-4 .
  • Gregor Srock: Legal framework for the further development of Europol ... Mohr Siebeck, 2006, ISBN 3-16-149094-0 .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b How European secret services organize themselves into “groups” and “clubs”
  2. ↑ a b c d Tages-Anzeiger - How Switzerland spied on Arabs with Israel , accessed on February 19, 2016
  3. ^ Regine Igel : Left-wing terrorism controlled by others? The cooperation of the RAF, Red Brigades, CIA and KGB. In: Blätter für German and international politics 10/07, page 1232
  4. ^ Regine Igel : Left-wing terrorism controlled by others? The cooperation of the RAF, Red Brigades, CIA and KGB. In: Blätter für German and international politics 10/07, page 1231
  5. ↑ Stefan Krempl: European secret service center should not operate in the EU context - heise online. In: heise.de. March 21, 2016, accessed March 22, 2016 .
  6. ^ Matthias Monroy: Year of the "common centers": European secret service center planned in the Netherlands. In: netzpolitik.org. February 22, 2016, accessed March 22, 2016 .
  7. ↑ https://andrej-hunko.de/presse/3495-europaeischer-geheimdienstkluengel-wird-zur-blackbox
  8. ↑ https://www.cilip.de/2016/10/26/europaeische-geheimdienste-ein-ueberblick/
  9. ↑ Gridling: BVT only to a limited extent from the Berner Club on ORF from April 1, 2019, accessed on April 1, 2019
  10. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung
  11. ↑ star
  12. ↑ The mirror