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Germany’s Bundestag has passed sweeping legislation expanding the powers of both its foreign and domestic intelligence services, authorising covert operations abroad, physical entry into private homes and AI-assisted digital surveillance in what Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described as a “reform of the century”.
The vote on Thursday saw 309 members of parliament back the new intelligence law, with 190 voting against and 71 abstaining. The bill was championed by Dobrindt, who argued it was essential given what he called an intensifying campaign of hybrid threats against Germany. “We are the target of hybrid threats,” he said. “Germany is a theatre of operations for terrorism, extremism and foreign powers.” The government has specifically cited Russia, China and Iran as the primary sources of foreign espionage.
What the BND can now do abroad
Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, the BND, has historically been constrained to information-gathering rather than active intervention. Under the new law, BND officers will be permitted to conduct covert operations on foreign soil, including acts of sabotage. The legislation envisages scenarios such as paralysing servers used by state-sponsored hacker groups, disrupting disinformation networks and interfering with weapons supply chains.
Domestic service gains executive powers
The domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution — known as the BfV — receives a more fundamental transformation. For the first time, it will be permitted to take protective action rather than simply observe. When specific threats are identified, BfV agents will be allowed to dismantle or destroy explosives and weapons, divert or block data flows during cyber-attacks, delete or falsify data held for malicious purposes, and plant false information on targeted individuals or groups.
Under certain conditions and with mandatory advance authorisation, agents will also be permitted to enter private homes covertly. The law additionally broadens digital surveillance powers to include monitoring encrypted communications, conducting online searches, using AI-supported data analysis and applying biometric image matching across the internet.
Leipzig airport attack cited as catalyst
The government pointed to a series of recent incidents to justify the overhaul. In August, a drone carrying an explosive device was discovered at Leipzig Airport near Ukrainian cargo aircraft; German authorities attributed the attack to Russia, though the bomb failed to detonate because of an apparently faulty detonator.
Opposition warns of a new secret police
The legislation has drawn sharp criticism from the Left Party. Its security spokeswoman, Clara Bünger, told public broadcaster ARD that the law was “a monster… summoning ghosts that we will probably never be able to get rid of”. She warned that the traditional separation between police and intelligence services — a safeguard established in direct response to the abuses of the Nazi era — was “being eroded”. “This means the secret service is being granted executive powers and will not only be allowed to act pre-emptively, but will also be granted police powers,” she said.
Dobrindt rejected the characterisation, calling it “madness” to suggest the reforms amounted to creating a new secret police. Sonja Eichwede of the centre-left SPD, a partner in the governing coalition, said the changes would make Germany’s democracy “robust and resilient”.
For historical reasons rooted in the experience of both Nazi-era and East German state surveillance, Germany has long maintained strict limits on what its intelligence agencies can do beyond collecting information. Thursday’s vote marks the most significant departure from that framework in the country’s post-war history.