BND chief Martin Jaeger\u2019s claim comes as his agency pushes for more funding and expanded powers<\/p>\n
Germany could become \u201cembroiled in a violent conflict with Russia,\u201d the country\u2019s foreign intelligence chief has warned, claiming that a mysterious drone incident at Leipzig airport is an example of the \u201creal and imminent\u201d threat posed by Moscow.
\nSpeaking to lawmakers at a parliamentary hearing on Monday, Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) head Martin Jaeger declared that \u201cthe confrontation we are facing with Russia has taken on a new, more dangerous dimension.\u201d
\n\u201cGermany is in danger \u200bof becoming embroiled in a violent conflict with Russia \u2013 the attempted attack in Leipzig \u2060is just one example,\u201d he continued, referring to the discovery of an explosive-laden drone next to a Ukrainian transport plane at the city\u2019s airport in August.\u00a0
\nGerman authorities have not released any evidence linking the incident to Russia, and Moscow has described the episode as a \u201chastily cobbled-together provocation\u201d serving \u201cexclusively the aims of Kiev and the militaristic wing of the European political class.\u201d It is \u201cobvious that Germany is pursuing a further course of escalation,\u201d Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last month.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Germany is preparing for war \u2013 with an enemy it expects to hold back<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Jaeger claimed that Russia is \u201cwaging a shadow war,\u201d and that there is a \u201creal and imminent\u201d threat of attacks against targets in Germany. \u201cNo other country currently poses such a direct, comprehensive, and concrete threat to Germany,\u201d he added.
\nJaeger is one of dozens of Western political, military, and media figures to accuse Russia of waging a \u201chybrid war\u201d or \u201cshadow war\u201d against Europe in recent weeks. The accusations are, by their nature, impossible to verify, and Moscow has written them off as pretexts to deepen Western involvement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, justify military spending hikes, and expand surveillance and persecution of domestic opponents.
\nGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz has explicitly and without evidence described the country\u2019s most popular political party, the right-wing AfD, as \u201cRussia-backed.\u201d Martina Rosenberg, the head of Germany\u2019s Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD), alluded to this claim during Monday\u2019s briefing, telling lawmakers that the country is \u201cthreatened by diverse dangers from both outside and within.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Escalation watch: Germany preparing for \u2018violent conflict\u2019 as West ramps up war rhetoric<\/p>\n
Jaeger, Rosenberg, and domestic intelligence (BfV) chief Sinan Selen all praised Merz\u2019s recent efforts to grant the BND greater offensive powers, and called for further strengthening of the MAD and BfV\u2019s capabilities.\u00a0
\nDespite their allegations of \u201chybrid war,\u201d European leaders have repeatedly stressed that they do not believe Russia to be planning any actual attacks on NATO territory. The BND has seen \u201cno indication of an imminent large-scale Russian attack on NATO territory,\u201d Jaeger added on Monday.
\nAmid an unprecedented escalation in the West\u2019s rhetoric toward Russia, RT is tracking the statements, accusations, and threats in our ongoing \u2018Escalation Watch\u2019 special. Keep an eye on it here as we sort the facts from the propaganda and debunk the psyops in real time.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BND chief Martin Jaeger\u2019s claim comes as his agency pushes for more funding and expanded powers Germany could become \u201cembroiled in a violent conflict with Russia,\u201d the country\u2019s foreign intelligence…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t