Berlin is preparing a major shift in how its intelligence agencies confront threats, but the plan is already raising control concerns.<\/p>\n
The German government has backed intelligence service reforms aimed at expanding the capabilities of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the Federal Intelligence Service (BND). The changes are being prepared in response to growing risks of espionage, sabotage, cyberattacks, and covert influence by foreign states.<\/p>\n
The legislative initiative must still undergo parliamentary consideration. If adopted, the BfV will be able to respond more actively to digital attacks, including by gaining access to attackers\u2019 computer systems, disrupting their activities, and using technical countermeasures.<\/p>\n
New Powers for the BfV and BND<\/p>\n
The reform also provides for the right to covertly disable weapons or explosive devices that could be used by terrorists.<\/p>\n
Additional capabilities are also planned for the Federal Intelligence Service. Under certain conditions, the BND will be able to participate in neutralizing threats on German territory if such actions are needed to weaken potential attackers.<\/p>\n
Hybrid threats and attempts at destabilization through sabotage, espionage, cyberattacks, and covert actions by foreign states are receiving a new response.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Alexander Dobrindt<\/p>\n
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt stated that the update is intended to change the way Germany\u2019s intelligence services operate. According to him, they should not only collect and analyze information but also be given more opportunities to directly counter threats.<\/p>\n
Debate Over Oversight of Intelligence Services<\/p>\n
Mark Henrichmann (CDU), head of the Bundestag\u2019s parliamentary oversight body, supported a review of intelligence service procedures. He emphasized the importance of the principle of separating the functions of the police and intelligence services, introduced after World War II.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Henrichmann believes that modern challenges, including disinformation campaigns, hacking attacks, and acts of sabotage, require a faster response from state institutions.<\/p>\n
The opposition has spoken out against expanding these powers. Its representatives warn that new tools for the BfV and BND could complicate legal and parliamentary oversight of intelligence services. The future of the reform will depend on the decision of the German parliament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Berlin is preparing a major shift in how its intelligence agencies confront threats, but the plan is already…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[52784,52785,4583,52786,5,52787,4587,42],"class_list":["post-71145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-germany","tag-bfv-powers","tag-bnd-reform","tag-cyberattacks","tag-foreign-espionage","tag-germany","tag-germany-intelligence-reform","tag-hybrid-threats","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}