German foreign and domestic intelligence agencies are set to receive expanded authority to fight espionage, terrorism, and sabotage following a comprehensive legislative overhaul approved by the Bundestag.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who promoted the legislation, described it as a generational reform required due to rising dangers from foreign governments.
Conversely, Clara Bünger, security spokeswoman for the Left Party, argued that Dobrindt was establishing a modernized German secret police.
The new legislation grants numerous expanded capabilities to both the BND, Germany's federal foreign intelligence service, and the BfV, the domestic Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
During the Bundestag vote, 309 parliamentarians supported the intelligence legislation, 190 opposed it, and 71 abstained.
Historically, German intelligence services have concentrated primarily on intelligence collection rather than executing operational measures.
Going forward, personnel with the BND foreign intelligence agency will be authorized to execute covert operations outside the country, which encompasses sabotage activities.
These actions may involve disabling infrastructure for state-backed hacker groups, dismantling disinformation networks, or interfering with weapons supply chains.
Personnel within the BfV domestic intelligence agency will no longer restrict their activities strictly to gathering intelligence, gaining the authority to execute protective measures against physical assets and digital systems upon identifying concrete threats.
Consequently, agents may neutralize or dismantle explosives and weapons, redirect or intercept data streams during cyber assaults, remove or modify malicious data, and introduce deceptive information targeting involved parties.
Subject to specific criteria and mandatory prior authorization, BfV operatives will additionally obtain permission to conduct covert residential entries.
Furthermore, the agencies receive expanded digital surveillance authorities, encompassing the interception of encrypted communications and execution of online searches, alongside permission to employ artificial intelligence data processing and biometric facial recognition online.
The administration states this overhaul is necessary due to escalating foreign espionage activities originating notably from Russia, China, and Iran.
According to Dobrindt, the nation faces hostile hybrid campaigns, describing Germany as an operational environment for foreign actors, extremism, and terrorism.
In August, authorities located an explosive-laden drone at Leipzig Airport near Ukrainian cargo aircraft, though the device failed to detonate due to a malfunctioning trigger mechanism.
German officials attribute this attempted attack to Russia.
Opposition lawmakers have strongly condemned the legislation, despite Dobrindt dismissing suggestions that the changes establish a new secret police as absurd.
Speaking to the public broadcaster ARD, Clara Bünger of the Left Party characterized the legislation as a dangerous creation that evokes forces which may prove impossible to control.
She cautioned that the traditional boundary separating police functions from intelligence operations is weakening, noting this separation was established as a crucial safeguard following the Nazi period.
Bünger stated that granting executive and pre-emptive law enforcement authorities to intelligence services blurs these essential lines.
Conversely, Sonja Eichwede representing the centre-left SPD coalition partner asserted that the legislative changes will substantially strengthen the resilience and robustness of German democracy.