BERLIN: Germany is facing daily hybrid warfare threats from abroad, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Sunday following a suspected attempt to attack Leipzig/Halle Airport with an explosives-laden drone.
Dobrindt told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that foreign powers were seeking to weaken Germany politically and socially by creating fear. Bild reported that the government was planning to strengthen the country’s ability to counter drone threats.
“We’re not at war, but we are the daily target of hybrid warfare,” Dobrindt said. “Espionage, sabotage, cyberattacks, or covert operations by foreign powers aimed at destabilising Germany or inflicting direct harm are a constant reality.”
He did not name any specific countries.
An explosives-carrying drone was discovered at the airport in eastern Germany on Tuesday. Following the incident, several German lawmakers accused Russia of being behind the suspected attack. Russia has been at war with Ukraine since its 2022 invasion.
The Russian embassy in Berlin rejected the allegations on Friday, describing the Leipzig incident as a “fabricated provocation” and another case of unsupported accusations against Moscow.
According to Bild, citing government sources, Dobrindt’s ministry plans to double the number of federal anti-drone specialists from 150 to 300 and increase the number of related bases from four to eight.
The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Germany’s armed forces also reported on Saturday that two drones had been detected late Thursday over a German military site in Mechernich, in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Vucic comments on Russia’s ‘hybrid war’
Separately, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told a German podcast that Russia’s “hybrid war” against European countries was “essentially the same as what Europe has done to Russia”.
Vucic argued that European countries had supplied weapons to Ukraine, imposed sanctions on Moscow and provided financial support to Kyiv. However, he stressed that Ukraine had not started the war and that the roles of victim and aggressor should not be confused.
Speaking to the MD MEETS podcast hosted by Axel Springer CEO Mathias Dopfner, Vucic said he did not expect the Russia-Ukraine war to end before next spring because of a lack of willingness to compromise.
“I believe we are at the beginning of a major war,” Vucic said, according to the German transcript.
His remarks came after he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week. Vucic also pledged support for Ukraine’s independence and said Serbia would work to strengthen economic ties with Kyiv.
