Germany’s foreign intelligence chief warned Friday that Russia is planning to target high-stakes regional elections this year with “hybrid” attacks, and called for Berlin to consider “counter-measures” against the growing threat.
Berlin, a key backer of Ukraine in its war against Moscow, says it has faced a growing number of Russian sabotage plots and cyberattacks, and accused Moscow of spreading disinformation before general elections last year.
Russia dismissed those claims as “absurd” and “baseless”.
Five German states hold elections this year and all eyes are on whether the far-right AfD, which has been surging in the polls and is seen as Moscow-friendly, will succeed in taking power in any of the regions.
Martin Jaeger, head of the BND foreign intelligence agency, warned that Russia had dramatically stepped up its use of “hybrid warfare” — which refers to largely unconventional methods that can involve sabotage, disinformation campaigns and other disruptive attacks.
“Elections in Moldova and Romania are recent examples, and we expect more hybrid campaigns throughout this election year in Germany,” Jaeger said in a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference.
But he warned the efforts to fend off Russian attacks had so far fallen short.
“Deterrence is not working yet,” he said.
“This raises the question, do we simply want to continue to observe and record these developments, or have we reached a point where we must take action — counter-measures?”
“I’m deeply convinced we should much more often prove that we would be able to do very similar things to make the other side also feel the pain,” he added.
His comments come after recent reports said that Berlin is considering overhauling laws to expand the powers of the BND.
Under new proposals, German spies would reportedly be able to launch sabotage operations and cyberattacks if the country’s recently formed National Security Council concludes there is a “systemic threat”.
The BND would also be handed extra powers for intelligence gathering, including the use of facial recognition software.
The government previously declined to comment on specifics, saying only that they planned to make changes to laws governing espionage.
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