Germany’s foreign intelligence agency is tightening its command structure while expanding its departments and breaking down internal barriers. The Bundesnachrichtendienst (bnd) is being overhauled to become a stronger “service provider,” a spokesman said last week.

The radical reforms, including removing an entire level of management, will give Berlin greater control over the agency. The agency’s bureaucracy will be trimmed down and its eight departments will be expanded to 12, reported Deutsche Welle October 29. Additionally, barriers between spies and analysts will be broken down.

“Antiquated and crusty structures will be broken up,” bnd spokesman Stefan Borchert said. The aim is for the agency to become a stronger “service provider” for the German government and parliament, according to Borchert.

The restructuring of the bnd, to be completed by 2009, follows a series of scandals including the involvement of agents in questionable actions in Afghanistan and spying on journalists in Germany, reports Deutsche Welle. Borchert “said an overhaul had been under debate for a long time in order to prepare the bnd for ‘future challenges,’ but that the events had made reform more urgent” (October 29).

bnd President Ernst Uhrlau has hailed the overhaul as a profound change to the agency.

German politicians across party lines also expressed support for the reform. An opposition Green party member explained that “the bnd leadership and the federal Chancellery would be in a position to better control the agency.”

The upcoming relocation of the bnd from the town of Pullach to Berlin is another move that reveals the growing importance and attention that Germany’s leadership is giving to its intelligence agency and network of spies.

The increasing threat of terrorism is a prime focus of the intelligence agency’s current reforms. Last week, August Hanning, a former bnd chief and deputy interior minister, spoke of the increasing concern among intelligence agencies that Islamist terrorists trained in North Africa may be planning attacks in Europe.

The restructuring of Germany’s intelligence agency to better serve the government and meet future challenges comes as Germany grows more politically and militarily involved in hot spots around the world. TheTrumpet.com recently reported on a German-led initiative to foster Middle East peace discussed earlier this month. The bnd has previously played a key, albeit covert negotiation role between Israel and Hezbollah.

As Germany becomes bolder in its foreign policy, all the while facing internal threats such as terrorism and radical Islam, the nation’s spy agency will take on an increasingly critical role for Berlin.