Germany at Risk of 'Violent Conflict' With Russia, BND Spy Chief Martin Jäger Warns
The foreign intelligence chief tells lawmakers Moscow's confrontation has taken a more dangerous turn, but sees no evidence of an imminent attack on NATO
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File photo: The headquarters of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) in Berlin, August 2019. Photo: Olaf Kosinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons
The head of Germany's foreign intelligence service has warned that the country risks being pulled into a direct confrontation with Russia, as Moscow steps up what he described as a "shadow war" against Europe.
Speaking on Monday at the annual public hearing of intelligence chiefs before the Bundestag's Parliamentary Oversight Committee, BND President Martin Jäger said: "The confrontation we are facing with Russia has taken on a new, more dangerous dimension," DW reported.
"Germany is in danger of being drawn into a violent conflict with Russia," Jäger told lawmakers, according to Politico Europe.
"A primary target"
Jäger cited an incident at Leipzig airport in August, which the German government has blamed on Russia, as an example of the threat, DW said. Politico said he described it as Russia's attempted attack on a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane.
"Germany has become a major obstacle to Russia's hegemonic power projection in Europe and, as a result, a primary target of Russian actions," he said, according to Politico.
"No other country currently poses such a direct, comprehensive, and concrete threat to Germany," he added, DW reported.
Warning over Ukraine's winter
The BND chief also warned that the war in Ukraine was entering its most dangerous phase.
"Russia is determined to bring Ukraine to its knees this coming winter," Jäger said. "We must expect Russian attacks of a severity and brutality that we have not yet seen on this scale. The war in Ukraine is entering a new and extremely dangerous phase."
He said President Vladimir Putin had "passed the point where he could simply call off the attack on Ukraine without jeopardizing his domestic power base", Politico reported.
No sign of a large-scale attack on NATO
Jäger said he currently sees "no evidence" of a large-scale Russian attack on a NATO member. But he added: "we consider it entirely possible that Russia might carry out targeted, smaller-scale operations", comparing them to the "little green men" who spearheaded the annexation of Crimea in 2014, according to Politico.
Russia has repeatedly denied any intention of attacking NATO countries. Putin said on Thursday: "But if we are subjected to aggression, we will have no choice but to respond," DW reported.
China also in focus
At the same hearing, domestic intelligence (BfV) chief Sinan Selen warned that high-tech goods from China, such as electric vehicles and robot vacuum cleaners, could pose a security risk.
"I already see substantial shortcomings that create potential for abuse," Selen said, according to DW.
The warnings came a day after Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Kyiv, where he said: "Mr. Putin, put an end to this senseless war," Politico reported.
