Bundeswehr general: Russia has been waging hybrid war against Germany for many years

This was stated in an interview with Ukrinform by Martin Schelleis, Federal Commissioner for Crisis Resilience, Security Policy, and Civil-Military Cooperation of the Order of Malta in Germany, retired Lieutenant General of the Bundeswehr.

“For many years, we have been observing Russia's increasingly aggressive hybrid war against Germany. Cyberattacks, sabotage, disinformation, espionage, including with the use of drones, have become commonplace,” Schelleis said.

The agency's interlocutor, who served in the army for 46 years, noted that the current priority is to strengthen the Bundeswehr, which, according to Chancellor Friedrich Merz's plan, should become the most powerful conventional armed forces in Europe, at least in Western Europe. To achieve these goals, EUR 154 billion is planned to be spent on defense by 2029 and another €66 billion on defense infrastructure, which is more than double the current amounts.

“So, there is enough money, now we need to recruit personnel very quickly — today there are 184,000, the goal is 260,000 — produce materials and construct buildings. The regulatory framework is being adjusted everywhere to speed up implementation,” Schelleis said.

The former military commander noted that defense, which has been largely neglected in Germany since 1990, is attracting more and more attention as its shortcomings become apparent.

He also acknowledged that Germany has “quite decent capabilities,” but they are mostly focused on protection against disasters in peacetime.

“Now they have to be made ‘fit for war’ in terms of quality and quantity,” he stressed.

Schelleis expressed hope that with the adoption of the KRITIS framework law [Critical Infrastructure Act] and the implementation of EU Directive NIS 2 [updated version of the EU Directive on the security of network and information systems], an expanded legal basis for the protection of critical infrastructure has been created. Now it needs to be filled with content.

As reported, Western, in particular German, intelligence services warn that Russia may attack Europe by the end of the decade.