Has Egypt Been Spying on Germany? Official Announcement Detailing the Incident Triggers Egyptian Sarcastic Memes

Last Thursday, the German government published an annual report in which they revealed details on "an Egyptian spy" who worked at a government office for years, which urged Egyptians to wonder about the kind of information he was required to obtain from Germany.

A domestic intelligence annual report revealed last week that a member of staff at the German government press office has been suspected of reporting certain information to the Egyptian government, without providing any further details of the nature of that information.

Yet, the German government stressed that the Egyptian spy" who has been fired from his job had no access to sensitive information" and that his activity was only related to a parliamentary program run by the government.

According to DW, "the Federal Public Prosecutor confirmed that the man was charged on suspicion of espionage and that the investigation is ongoing."

In a report published by AFP, missions of the Egyptian secret service agents in Germany are focused on recruiting Egyptian nationals to gather information related to Egyptian groups living in the country, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood and the Coptic Christian community.

News of the spy, who has been collecting information related to Egyptians and not Germans prompted many humorous reactions amongst Egyptian social media users, who pointed out the irony that their government "keeps an eye on them while in the country and abroad."

Translation: "What are you saying? They've captured an Egyptian agent in Germany? What was he doing? Spying on Egyptians?"

Social media commentators also expressed their "disappointment" that their government's "efforts are only concentrated on protecting the political regime from opposition figures instead of being interested in information that could help the country's development and economy."

Translation: "I just read news of Germany's capture of an Egyptian agent. At first, I felt happy thinking we must have been trying to uncover German technological secrets. But turns out Egypt is only spying on Egyptians who are living in Germany."

Translation: "They say an Egyptian agent has been caught in Germany but he's been spying on Egyptians."

They also shared photos of a famous spy scene from the Egyptian classic comedy play "No Longer Kids," where the spy dressed in the least subtle costume during his botched mission, mocking the spy just revealed in Germany.

Translation: "We are only the best at spying. An Egyptian spy has been caught in Germany."