25,000 euros for fun program: auditors complain about expensive secret service tour

Fine dining and a boat trip on the Rhine: The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has to justify an excessive conference at the expense of the taxpayer. The spies squandered a multiple of the permitted budget, criticize the auditors.

The Federal Court of Auditors has reprimanded the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) for a luxurious two-day conference in September 2021. This is reported by the “Spiegel”. The Federal Office fed the delegation of a foreign intelligence service in the restaurant of a five-star hotel near Bonn and also chartered a catamaran for a trip on the Rhine, including a hearty lunch.

Actually, constitutional protection officers are only allowed to spend 30 euros per person for a meal, including drinks. But the dinner cost 143 euros, lunch on the catamaran another 203 euros per participant – the spies squandered 377 percent and 577 percent respectively more than allowed. In total, the two days cost around 25,000 euros.

The Federal Court of Auditors questions the usefulness of the expenditure. After all, only one and a half hours were allowed for technical discussions in the two days. The BfV explained that on the fringes of the fun program, of course, the content was constantly discussed. And that the foreign intelligence service had been extremely generous two years earlier when the Germans had visited it, including a trip on a yacht. The Court of Auditors was not convinced.

In addition, the auditors sharply criticized the personnel policy of the three federal intelligence services. According to secret documents from the control body, which the “Spiegel” was able to see, almost every fourth (23 percent) of the 5081 approved positions at the BfV was vacant. At the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) it is around 16 percent, at the military counter-intelligence service 17.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution explains its vacancies to the Court of Audit by saying that these are reserved for people on parental leave or studying. The security checks would also take a long time. The examiners were not satisfied with the explanation. They estimate that both the BfV and the BND will need several more years to fill their already approved positions.