Germany at risk of violent conflict with Russia, intelligence chief says

By Sabine Siebold

BERLIN, Oct 5 (Reuters) – Germany is at risk of entering a violent conflict as Moscow steps up an increasingly aggressive “shadow war” against European democracies, its head of foreign intelligence warned on Monday.

“The confrontation we are facing with Russia has taken on a new, more dangerous dimension,” Martin Jaeger, head of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), told the annual public hearing of intelligence chiefs in parliament.

“Germany is in danger of becoming embroiled in a violent conflict with Russia — the attempted attack in Leipzig is just one example,” he said, describing Russia as “waging a shadow war” with the threat of attacks against targets in Germany remaining “real and imminent”.

German authorities have warned repeatedly that Russia is conducting a hybrid campaign of drone and cyber attacks, and have blamed it for an attempted drone attack on Leipzig airport in August.

INTELLIGENCE BOSS SAYS RUSSIA IS TESTING GERMANY

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had “no intention of attacking anyone … but if we are subjected to aggression, we will have no choice but to respond”.

Jaeger, however, said Moscow was prepared to use force to achieve its goals, and that Russian intelligence services’ operations in and against Germany were “increasingly aggressive”.

“Russia is putting us to the test and closely watching how we handle this situation. From the perspective of the Kremlin leadership, any sign of wavering invites them to further increase the pressure on Germany.”

Jaeger said there was no indication of an imminent large-scale Russian attack on NATO territory.

“However, Russia could engage in low-intensity military activities, particularly in the Baltic states.”

Germany must prepare for more meddling and attempts at intimidation, including threats of nuclear attack, he said.

“Moscow is betting on our weakness”, he added. “We have to stand up to that.”

Jaeger said Moscow was trying to compel Germany, Ukraine’s largest donor, to drop its support.

“Russia is determined to bring Ukraine to its knees this coming winter,” he said. “We must expect Russian attacks of a severity and brutality that we have not yet seen.”

Germany’s intelligence services are set to receive new powers to carry out active operations to thwart attacks if parliament approves new legislation.

Created after World War Two, when memories of the Nazi regime were still fresh, the German services have traditionally been more constrained than those of allies such as France, Britain or the US.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, writing by Linda Pasquini, editing by Friederike Heine)