Germany's Federal Administrative Court has ordered that the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the foreign spy agency of the nation, has no obligation to reveal its findings into the origins of the Covid-19. As announced on Tuesday, this ruling allows the BND's withholding of a 2020 intelligence report.

The case arose after the German newspaper Die Welt applied for the BND's report based on constitutional rights to information. But the judges in Leipzig decided against the application, siding with the spy agency. The argument given was that releasing the findings would hurt Germany's foreign relations, especially with China.

“Disclosing information could have significant economic and political repercussions for relations with the People's Republic of China and thus for the foreign affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany,” the Federal Administrative Court stated in its ruling."

“The BND has plausibly demonstrated that disclosures could impair its functionality and the interests of the Federal Republic of Germany,” the judges said. “Confirming or denying the alleged findings would enable conclusions about intelligence sources, capabilities, and working methods of the BND.” 

Earlier this year, in March, multiple media outlets reported that the BND had reports on the origins of the coronavirus. Some of those reports indicated that the agency concluded that, seemingly, the virus emerged from an accidental lab leak in China at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The issue has remained widely debated globally.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, had a huge impact on the globe. Millions of lives were lost within three years, healthcare systems were strained, and worldwide lockdowns disrupted life and caused a global recession.