German MPs urge government to strengthen countermeasures against Russian hybrid threats

In recent years, the German government has underestimated the importance of countering Russian hybrid influence. Today, as hybrid threats from the Russian Federation are posing a serious challenge for Germany and other Western democracies, Germany must provide funding to counter them.

A number of German lawmakers addressed the issue in their comments for Guildhall, Ukrinform reports.

A member of the Foreign Relations Committee Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU/CSU) said: "Russia is a beast and sees us precisely as its victim. The public society in Germany is not yet fully aware what Russia's hybrid influence is. Yes, there are special services that see and understand the threat, there are also organizations, for example, Carlo Mazala, a professor at the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich, the Adenauer Foundation, the German Marshalls Fund, there are others, but we are in the minority. A critical mass of people has accumulated."

“As for the threat, for example, during the pandemic, we had the movement which calls Querdenker, which means ‘think against the mainstream.’ These thinkers they are nor thinkers, but they are the speakers of Russian propaganda. And Russia has influenced them with the Alternative for Deutschland party and Die Linle, and playing on the claviatura, escorting their work, trying to gather supporters. These are the enemies of the state, they act and carry out activities against Germany. I also note that the main communication tool is Telegram. We must inform the public and counteract such processes. After all, society is already divided between some regions, and if we get fascists and communists in the Bundestag, a serious mess will begin in our country," the legislator added.

In turn, Bundestag deputy with the Greens, Robin Wagener, said that the German government underestimated the role of hybrid threats from the Russian Federation. The politician calls to realize that a deliberate strategy of destabilization is being employed against Germany and Western democracies, which must be countered.

“Yes, the problem of Russian hybrid threats is huge, but it is huge not only for Germany, but for Western democracies as a whole. Dictatorships are targeting of our weak points, what they identify as our weak points as a democracy such as freedom of speech and trying to push them. First, it is necessary to see that such activities are being carried out against us. That this is not an accident, but a strategy and coordinated action to destabilize us. The problem in Germany is that our government has not taken such threats from Russia seriously enough in recent years. There was a big discussion in the Bundestag on this matter, and we are now resolving the issue of funding to counter such threats. After all, we have allocated one billion euros to support the army, but now there is a question of funds to counter hybrid threats,” he said.

Another Bundesparmentarian with the CDU/CSU, Marcus Koob, believes that Russia will intensify hybrid attacks on Germany and it is necessary to be ready to effectively counter them.

“I recognize the importance of hybrid threats to us today and they are not new. I am convinced that Brexit was a Russian hybrid operation, the influence on the elections in France and in the US, cyber attacks on German business and the Bundestag, all this is very closely tied with Russia. Today, the threat is growing, the threat to critical infrastructure is growing, and we must find answers to these challenges. We reacted very poorly to the poisoning of the Skripals, the murder in the Tiergarten, and so on. We must be prepared for more serious attacks in the future and be able to effectively counter them,” the lawmaker said.

It should be recalled that the leaders of the Federal Intelligence Service, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, and military counterintelligence service of Germany warned about the threat of the Kremlin plotting political assassinations in Germany.