Kabinettsklausur: Merz: Legen in Kürze Erkenntnisse zu Sprengstoff-Drohne vor

Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz announced that the German government plans to soon provide insights into the sources of the incident involving a bomb-dropping drone at Leipzig/Halle Airport on August 4th. During the cabinet meeting at Schloss Neuhardenberg in Brandenburg, Merz emphasized that the focus would not be on attributing the attack.

However, he added that extensive work was being done with security authorities on the matter, stating that they would soon elaborate on their findings. Merz warned that Germany is "entirely vulnerable to threats" and that "we must not ignore problems that partly come from outside," including the need for security. He noted that the recent incident in Leipzig demonstrates that Germany has increasingly become a target for hybrid attackers who "bravely accept heavy property damage, even casualties."

Merz stressed that the government had been right to invest in protecting the country and its people against hybrid attacks, and that it would strengthen protection, most recently through the establishment of a drone center in Magdeburg. The chancellor also emphasized that Germany would not tolerate those responsible for hybrid attacks, stating that they would "pay for it," which is a key goal of the legislation package on intelligence services that was approved by the cabinet in August.

Furthermore, the federal government intends to maintain its support for Ukraine in its defense against the Russian aggression "with a long breath" in order to compel peace talks. The bomb-dropping drone was discovered in the security area of Leipzig/Halle Airport on the evening of August 4th, between Ukrainian freight aircraft. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office described it as a "serious attack on Germany's transportation and logistics infrastructure."

Although it is suspected that Russia is behind the incident, the actual perpetrators have not been identified.