BND Findings Suggest Likely Lab-Origin of Coronavirus Kept Secret by Merkel and Scholz Governments
New reports reveal Germany's intelligence agency assessed the COVID-19 pandemic likely stemmed from a Wuhan lab accident as early as 2020, but the information was withheld from the public.
- The German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) concluded in 2020 that the coronavirus likely originated from a lab accident in Wuhan, with an estimated probability of 80–95% based on classified data from the operation 'Saaremaa.'
- Both Angela Merkel's and Olaf Scholz's administrations decided to keep the BND's findings confidential, citing concerns over international relations and insufficient concrete evidence.
- The BND's assessment was based on scientific data, including indications of risky gain-of-function research and poor safety protocols at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
- The findings were not shared with the Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee or the World Health Organization (WHO), though external experts, including Christian Drosten, were later tasked with reviewing the data in late 2024.
- The origins of the COVID-19 pandemic remain unresolved, with China denying the lab-leak theory and limited international access to critical evidence complicating further investigation.
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