Three explosive-laden drones found near Leipzig airport: Merz warns Germany is "under threat"
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has stated that the discovery of armed drones near Leipzig airport proves that Germany is facing real hybrid threats.
Merz: Germany "increasingly in the sights of hybrid attackers"
A third drone equipped with explosives has been discovered near Leipzig airport, reported by Digi24 citing Politico. Chancellor Friedrich Merz reacted on Tuesday, ahead of a cabinet meeting at Neuhardenberg, stating that the attacks demonstrate Germany's vulnerability.
"The drone attack in Leipzig, amongst other things, shows that we are facing very real threats. Germany is increasingly in the sights of hybrid attackers," Merz said.
German counter-terrorism authorities opened an investigation on 5 August after an airport employee discovered the first drone — equipped with explosives but with an apparently defective detonator. A second drone was found on 14 August near the same facility, according to publication Süddeutsche Zeitung. Leipzig airport is an important NATO logistics base.
Merz has not publicly attributed responsibility for these incidents. "We are working intensively on this case together with security agencies and will soon present our findings and offer commentary on them," the chancellor clarified.
According to publication Bild, Merz told members of the Christian Democratic Union on Monday in a private meeting that the government holds "circumstantial evidence pointing to the identity of those responsible for the crime".
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt had already suggested at the beginning of the month that a state actor could be behind the threat. "There are numerous indicators pointing in this direction," Dobrindt stated on 6 August, shortly after the first discovery.
The Merz government is seeking to expand the remit of German intelligence services to counter such threats. According to a report published last year by the country's intelligence services, Germany's security "has deteriorated significantly" since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
As part of the proposed reforms, agents operating within the German foreign intelligence service, the BND, could be authorised to carry out acts of sabotage and conduct offensive cyber operations.
Source: Digi24