# Germany’s spies unleashed with licence to open fire

**By:** James  Jackson  
**Published:** 2026-08-12T18:03Z  
**Source:** [The Telegraph](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/08/12/germanys-spies-unleashed-licence-shoot-bnd-threat-russia)

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Agents will also be able to commit sabotage abroad and spread disinformation under radical reforms
		

	

	

	

		

        
            

		
			
			
			

				

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				

				

				

   
   

    

		
		

	
	
	
	
	

	
	
		
	
	

	
				Alexander Dobrindt, the German interior minister, announces reforms to the intelligence agency laws in Berlin
			
		

		
		
			
				
				    Credit: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters
			   
			
		
	

		

			
			

				

  
  

	

	
	

	
	

  
  
    Germany’s spies have been granted permission to fire their guns for the first time in response to heightened fears of terrorism and Russian attacks.
On Wednesday, Friedrich Merz’s cabinet voted to enhance the powers of the BND, Germany’s federal foreign intelligence agency, and the BfV, the country’s domestic security service.
Agents will also be able to commit sabotage abroad and spread disinformation under the most radical reforms since the agencies were founded in the 1950s.
“We are equipping the services with operational capabilities and active powers to take effective action against modern state-sponsored terrorism and extremist violence,” said Alexander Dobrindt, the interior minister.
The new measures, which must pass parliament, aim to help Germany fend off increasing hybrid attacks from Russia.
Last week, a drone laden with explosives was discovered at Leipzig airport in a suspected Kremlin operation, while in 2024 Armin Papperger, the chief executive of Rheinmetall, the defence company, was the target of a foiled Russian assassination plot.
“We are in the thick of a hybrid conflict not only with Russia but also with other actors,” Marc Henrichmann, the chairman of the parliament’s intelligence oversight committee, said.

  

			
			
			

			
				
				

	 
    

	
	
    
        
        
        
    

	
	

	
	

    
    
	

	
	

	
	

	
	

	
	
	
	
	
	
	

	

	

	

	

	
	

	
	

   
   

    

		
		

	
	
	
	
	

	
	
		
	
	

	
				An armed drone was discovered at Leipzig airport near a Ukrainian cargo plane, in an incident that has been linked to Russia
			
		

		
		
			
				
				    Credit: Sebastian Willnow/DPA/AP
			   
			
		
	

  
  

	

	
	

	
	

  
  
    A draft of the 700-page legislation, seen by The Telegraph, said the BND could now “go beyond information-gathering” and “take an active role with the aim of averting threats to Germany or its allies ... using kinetic means if necessary” – meaning that guns could be deployed.
But the draft measures stop short of an outright licence to kill, stating that guns could be fired only in self-defence.
The BfV, which has been locked in a legal battle with the Alternative for Germany party since classifying it as an extremist threat, will also gain new powers, including the ability to shut down computers used in cyber attacks and actively track foreign spies in the country.
Since its founding in 1956, the BND has primarily focused on gathering intelligence under strict oversight from parliamentary committees and the law to prevent the rise of another Gestapo, the Nazi secret police.
These limitations have meant that allied intelligence services, with greater technological capabilities and broader powers, have often been the ones to uncover terror plots.
Marc Henrichmann, the chairman of the Bundestag committee that monitors the work of the BND, said Germany’s cautious approach had left it “behind the curve” and unable to contribute to European security. 
He admitted that the limitations on the agency “came out of good historical reasons”, but were no longer adequate.
“We face adversaries who play without any rules at all,” he said. “They have no regard for law and order. Their goal is not merely to put the West, the EU and Germany under pressure, but ideally to bring them to their knees.”

  

			
			
			

			
				
				

	 
    

	
	
    
        
        
        
    

	
	

	
	

    
    
	

	
	

	
	

	
	

	
	
	
	
	
	
	

	

	

	

	

	
	

	
	

   
   

    

		
		

	
	
	
	
	

	
	
		
	
	

	
				Opponents of the legislation want safeguards in place to prevent Germany from creating a Nazi-style secret police force
			
		

		
		
			
				
				    Credit: Ullstein Bild/Getty 
			   
			
		
	

  
  

	

	
	

	
	

  
  
    Boris Pistorius, the German defence minister, noted last year that although the country was not at war, it was “no longer at complete peace either”.
The reforms have led to criticism from opposition politicians. Wolfgang Kubicki, the leader of the Free Democrat party, accused the interior ministry of “a historic break with taboo”, saying: “I don’t want a secret police in Germany. I want full judicial oversight regarding infringements on fundamental rights.”
Clara Bünger, of the Left-wing Die Linke, also criticised the “irresponsible” watering down of restrictions on collaboration between the BND and police.
The BND has faced numerous humiliations in recent years. August Hanning, the agency’s former director, described it as an “impotent watchdog”, telling The Telegraph in 2024 that it was constrained by “excessive bureaucracy”.
Bruno Kahl, then the head of the BND, was in Kyiv for meetings when Russia invaded in February 2022 after the agency had rejected British and American warnings of an imminent attack.
The agency was also criticised for intelligence failures before the Taliban’s capture of Kabul in 2021, which forced a major withdrawal of Western forces.
The BND recently came fifth in a peer ranking of European intelligence services, behind MI6, France’s DGSE, the Netherlands and Ukraine.