Gerhard Ernst Ottomar Sabathil (* 11 February 1954 in

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...

) is a German-Hungarian former EU

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. Sabathil studied economics and history at the

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

and received his doctorate in 1981. He started his professional career in 1982 at the Deutsche Industrie- und Handelskammertag (''Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce''). His career at the European Union began in 1984 at the Directorate-General for Competition. This was followed by positions in the cabinet of Vice-President

Karl-Heinz Narjes Karl-Heinz Narjes (30 January 1924 in Soltau – 26 January 2015 in Bonn) was a German Christian Democratic (CDU) politician. From 1969 to 1973 he was Minister for Economy and Transport of the State of Schleswig-Holstein and from 1981 to 1988 ...

, as Head of Office to the Head of the Budget Directorate-General, Chargé d'Affaires at the EU delegations in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

and Head of Unit for the

Western Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whol ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. From 2000 to 2004, Sabathil was EU Ambassador to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, and from 2004 to 2008 Head of the

EU Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

Representation in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He was then Director in the EU Commission and the

European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service and combined foreign and defence ministry of the European Union (EU). The EEAS is led by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP), who is also ...

in Brussels until 2015, most recently for

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

and the Pacific. In 2020, the

Generalbundesanwalt The Public Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice (german: Generalbundesanwalt or ''Generalbundesanwältin beim Bundesgerichtshof'' (GBA), lit.: "General Federal Attorney at the Federal Court of Justice") is the federal prosecutor of ...

(Attorney General) investigated Sabathil on suspicion of "secret agent activity". Sabathil was alleged to be an "informant, tipster and recruiter" of the Chinese foreign intelligence service. Previously, in September 2016, his security clearance, without which no access to classified documents is possible, had been revoked, and since August 2018, he had been wiretapped by the

Verfassungsschutz The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (german: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz or BfV, often ''Bundesverfassungsschutz'') is Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency. Together with the Landesämter für Verfassungss ...

(BfV, Office for the Protection of the Constitution). In November 2020, the investigation was closed. The ''Bundesanwaltschaft'' (Office of the Federal Prosecutor) reportedly criticised the BfV and voiced doubts about the credibility of the sources that were used for the accusations against Sabathil. According to the SAR, American intelligence agencies were feeding Germany falsified information about Sabathil in order to discredit him and damage diplomatic relations between the EU, Germany, and China.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabathil, Gerhard 1954 births Hungarian diplomats Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Ambassadors of the European Union to South Korea Ambassadors of the European Union to Iceland Ambassadors of the European Union to Norway European Union diplomats German diplomats Living people