How Germany is reforming its spy agencies

The move comes as Germany is facing what spy chief Martin Jäger has called an undeclared “shadow war” waged by Moscow and is rapidly rebuilding its military to deter a hostile Russia.

The reforms marks a historic shift where strict legal firewalls put in place after World War II have long confined the intelligence services to gathering and analysing information.

Here are the key changes and why they have sparked fierce debate.

Why is Germany launching the refoms?

Since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, German authorities have sounded the alarm over suspected Moscow-backed sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns and drone overflights near military sites.

Espionage from other foreign powers such as China or Iran have also sparked concern, as have ongoing threats from foreign militant groups and domestic extremists.

For years, Berlin has relied heavily on tip-offs from allies such as the United States to thwart major plots.

Meanwhile, Germany’s top court has ruled that existing surveillance laws lack adequate oversight, giving lawmakers until the end of the year to rewrite the framework or see key intelligence powers lapse.

What new powers will spies get?

The BND will get vastly expanded authority to run covert cloak-and-dagger operations outside Germany, such as launching cyber attacks or, in some cases, carrying out sabotage abroad.

Targeted assassinations, however, will remain strictly forbidden.

“In the future, the BND will possess partial paramilitary powers. It can be aptly compared to MI6,” intelligence agency expert Luca Manns told AFP, referring to the British spy agency.

“While it may not include a ‘license to kill,’ it effectively encompasses almost everything else — sabotage, destruction, and the like. This represents a drastic shift in its mandate,” said Manns, the director of the Intelligence Services Research Center at the University of Cologne.

The legislation also grants the BND broader powers to intercept foreign communications, retain metadata for longer periods and deploy artificial intelligence to sift through troves of data.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the changes would start “a new era” for Germany’s spy agencies.

What about domestic intelligence?

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the BfV — tasked with monitoring extremism, espionage and militant groups at home — is also receiving upgrades.

The bill permits the BfV to use automated data analysis and biometric facial recognition, as well as retain some data longer than Germany’s famously strict privacy laws normally allow.

Its new operational powers, however, are more modest.

The BfV will be allowed to hack into computer systems to hit back against cyber attacks, and agents will be allowed to tamper with adversaries’ “criminal tools”.

“If one were to summarise the operational powers, it primarily concerns the disabling of weapons and ‘hack-backs’,” Manns said.

Both agencies would, under limited circumstances, be able to covertly enter private homes or businesses for searches or surveillance.

An initial proposal to allow the BfV to spread its own false information raised sharp criticism, and an amendment to the bill specifies that the agency can do nothing that might damage a person’s private or professional reputation.

Why are the reforms so sensitive?

German intelligence policy remains shadowed by the dark legacies of Nazi Germany’s Gestapo, and the Stasi secret police of communist East Germany.

Many Germans are also very sensitive to privacy matters, making any expansion of government powers to snoop on its citizens highly controversial.

Spy agencies have so far been largely restricted to collecting information and writing reports, while only the police could execute arrests or carry out searches.

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Opposition parties, civil liberties groups and privacy watchdogs argue the legislation goes too far.

The Greens, while generally supportive of the overhaul, worry about adequate oversight and fear the reforms could erode the firewall between spies and police.

The far-left Die Linke warned that the BfV’s expanded tools could be weaponised against political opponents.

The far-right Alternative for Germany — which has repeatedly found itself under surveillance by domestic intelligence — has warned the BfV could turn into a “Stasi 2.0”.

Dobrindt said the agencies are now under the “strictest oversight mechanisms ever” and would serve to protect democracy, adding that “the Stasi and the Gestapo, they knew no oversight”.