Bruno Kahl, president of the German foreign intelligence service BND, said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a declaration of war on the entire Western democratic world.
Kahl expressed the opinion at the public meeting of the parliamentary commission that the war started by the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin does not only concern the territory of Ukraine.
Putin will continue to use force, as he did in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, Crimea and Donbas, to achieve his political goals, the BND president stressed.
Speaking of the war in Ukraine, he predicted that the war will continue next year as neither side wants to give up the territories.
Kahl added that the BND’s warnings have largely gone unheeded in the past.
“Unfortunately, over the past few decades, public discourse has repeatedly ignored and ignored real threats and dismissed security warnings as alarmist and pompous,” Kahl said.
Events like the war in Ukraine show why Germany needs its security services, he added.
“Autocratic China, which is trying to become a global power, is also a great threat,” said Kahl.
The president of the military counterintelligence service (MAD), Martina Rosenberg, instead stated that in addition to the Russian espionage activities, the activities of the Chinese secret services against the Bundeswehr have been at a high level for years.
The Intelligence Control Board usually meets in secret, but once a year the heads of federal intelligence are questioned in public.
