Secret service leaders in the Bundestag: BND chief Jäger warns of “violent conflict” with Russia

The heads of the German secret services have warned in drastic terms about the danger posed by Russian imperialism. BND chief Jäger said at a public meeting of the parliamentary control committee in Berlin: “Germany is in danger of getting into a violent conflict with Russia.” The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Sinan Selen, warned the committee: “In addition to the known espionage activities, we see a willingness to carry out sabotage and killing operations.”

Members of the Bundestag sit on the control committee and are supposed to monitor the actions of the secret services. Normally the members meet in secret to protect sensitive information; only one meeting per year is public, which this time fell on Monday. In addition to Jäger and Selen, the head of the military counterintelligence service, Martina Rosenberg, also spoke.

The three described Russia as currently the greatest threat to Germany, the EU and the West as a whole. The Russian army is currently trying to specifically test the defense alliance with drone flights in NATO airspace. He expects that Russia could carry out limited actions in the Baltic states, for example, in order to provoke the reaction of NATO and the EU. “We currently see no evidence of a large-scale attack by Russia on NATO territory.”

When it comes to intelligence activities, Germany is now “Russia's main target area because Germany is the center of European support for Ukraine,” said Jäger. The attempted attack at Leipzig Airport is just one example of this. No other country is currently posing such a direct, comprehensive and concrete threat against Germany.

At the same time, the BND chief warned that the war in Ukraine was entering a new, very dangerous phase with increasingly brutal Russian attacks. Russia is “consuming” its resources, and President Putin is past the point at which he can simply stop attacking Ukraine. “He must demonstrate a success in Ukraine that justifies the immense sacrifices made so far from a Russian perspective.” That puts him under pressure.

Clara Bünger from the Left once again criticized the planned expansion of powers for the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the BND with a view to possible AfD government(s). BfV President Selen “did not give a convincing answer to the question of how to prevent the AfD from gaining access to sensitive data and using it to persecute political opponents.” This shows a shocking level of irresponsibility.

With a view to a possible AfD government and then state power such as the Office for the Protection of the Constitution falling to the extreme right, Bünger said: “Now of all times, expanding the powers of the secret services in an unprecedented manner and at the same time weakening their parliamentary control is extremely dangerous,” said Bünger. The federal government is creating an architecture for arbitrary surveillance and political persecution. This is already highly problematic under a black-and-red government, but “in the hands of an AfD government, this danger increases.” (with Reuters)