Covered up by Merkel?

BND believes in laboratory accident as trigger for corona!

The Wuhan Institute of Virology: did coronavirus originate here?

(Bild: AFP)

According to media reports, the German foreign intelligence service BND assumed with high probability that the coronavirus originated in a laboratory in China during the coronavirus pandemic. However, the Chancellery under Angela Merkel is said to have withheld the assessment at the time ...

The German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) believes it is likely that a laboratory accident in Wuhan, China, was the cause of the global coronavirus pandemic. The German foreign intelligence service came to this conclusion back in 2020, according to information from the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" and "Zeit" newspapers.

In addition to an analysis of public data, it was based primarily on material obtained as part of an intelligence operation codenamed "Saaremaa", as the media reported. According to the reports, this included scientific data from Chinese research institutions - including the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Laboratory thesis with 80 to 95 percent probability
It is considered one of the leading Chinese institutions for virus research - research on coronaviruses was also carried out there. In addition to evidence of risky experiments in which naturally occurring viruses were artificially modified, the "Saaremaa" material is also said to show numerous violations of laboratory safety regulations.

According to the reports, the laboratory thesis was assessed by the BND as having a probability of 80 to 95 percent. The second hypothesis, according to which the virus had a natural origin, as in the SARS epidemic of 2002/2003, was therefore considered less likely.

Under lock and key?
However, the Chancellery in Berlin decided to keep the explosive assessment under lock and key, writes the SZ. When asked by the media, the then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) did not want to comment on whether she was aware of the matter. Immediately after the change of government from Merkel to Olaf Scholz (SPD), the head of the BND, Bruno Kahl, informed the Chancellery again. The Parliamentary Control Committee of the Bundestag, which is responsible for monitoring the intelligence services, was not informed, nor was the World Health Organization (WHO). ex-BND chief August Hanning expressed his bewilderment to the Bild newspaper - and even accused the Merkel and Scholz governments of a cover-up!

What did the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel know about the origins of the coronavirus pandemic? Media reports provide new insights.

(Bild: Markus Schreiber)

German government remains silent on reports
According to the report, the German government decided at the end of last year to commission external experts to review the BND's findings. Since last December, high-ranking external scientists have been examining the validity of the BND's findings on behalf of the Chancellery. A final result is not yet available.

China denies laboratory version
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019, there have been discussions about whether the virus originated in a laboratory or was transmitted to humans from animals at a market. The Chinese government vehemently denies the laboratory version. The background to the debate is also that work was carried out in laboratories in China on so-called sars-like coronaviruses.

A laboratory in Wuhan

(Bild: AFP/STR)

In January, the US intelligence agency CIA announced that it suspected that the coronavirus originated in a laboratory. The US agency had previously stated for years that it could not say whether the coronavirus came from a laboratory incident or was of natural origin.

The answer to the question of the origin of the virus is considered highly political. In recent years, hundreds of millions of people worldwide have fallen ill and millions have died. The pandemic has also led to a dramatic economic slump worldwide and social tensions.