Germany: Interior Minister warns of 'daily' hybrid warfare

Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has warned that hybrid warfare attacks have become a daily threat to the nation. Speaking to Bild am Sonntag, Dobrindt stated that the country is the daily target of such attacks, which include espionage, sabotage, cyberattacks, and covert operations by foreign powers. These constant dangers have prompted Germany to bolster its research into drones and establish a new drone security research center at a German Aerospace Center (DLR) test airport in Saxony-Anhalt.

Recent incidents have heightened concerns over the threat of hybrid warfare. On Saturday, Germany's armed forces confirmed the sighting of two drones over a military base in Mechernich, a western state near the Belgian border. The base houses personnel responsible for maintaining US Patriot air defense systems, which play a crucial role in defending Ukraine against Russian aerial attacks.

This follows the discovery of a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig/Halle Airport earlier in the week, an event Dobrindt described as a "hybrid attack scenario."

While German officials have not publicly blamed any specific country for the incidents, some lawmakers have pointed the finger at Russia, which has been at war with Ukraine since 2022's full-scale invasion. The Russian Embassy in Berlin dismissed the Leipzig incident as a "fabricated provocation" and accused Germany of unfairly accusing Russia without any evidence.