18 September 2018•Update: 19 September 2018
By Ayhan Simsek
BERLIN
Germany’s coalition government forced out the nation's spy chief on Tuesday for his controversial comments and contacts with far-right politicians.
Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the domestic intelligence agency BfV, had sparked a debate in the country by contradicting Chancellor Angela Merkel on recent far-right unrest in eastern Germany.
Despite Merkel’s strong condemnation of the far-right violence and her branding the incidents the “hunting down” of foreigners, Maassen claimed that there was no clear evidence showing that protestors had attacked migrants, and further argued that social media videos of such incidents could be propaganda by far-left groups.
Following nearly two-hour crisis talks between Merkel and her coalition partners in Berlin, Merkel’s office announced that Maassen would be removed from his post, to be given another position in the Interior Ministry.
Maassen, the BfV's head since 2012, has been an outspoken critic of Merkel’s open-door policy for refugees fleeing conflicts and persecution.
In recent weeks, Maassen came under fire from Merkel’s coalition partner the Social Democratic Party (SPD) for his contacts with senior politicians from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which touts an anti-immigration, anti-Islam platform.
The AfD and far-right groups had held rallies in eastern cities in recent weeks, following reports of murder and other crimes allegedly perpetrated by refugees.
During the protests, several mobs hunted down people deemed "" on the streets and attacked restaurants owned by Jews or other migrants.
