Germany under pressure: Defending democracy against hybrid threats

Russian hybrid threats are increasingly testing Germany’s security architecture. In a TVP World interview, IDM Director Sebastian Schäffer discussed the need to strengthen Germany’s capacity to counter espionage, sabotage, cyberattacks and foreign interference while preserving the constitutional safeguards that distinguish a democracy from the actors seeking to undermine it.  

The challenge is not limited to the digital sphere. Disinformation operations, interference in democratic processes, suspected sabotage activities and threats to critical infrastructure are part of a wider pattern aimed at creating insecurity, eroding trust in public institutions and portraying democratic states as incapable of protecting their citizens.  

Germany’s planned reforms of its security and intelligence structures, as well as investments in drone-related capabilities, therefore respond to a changing threat environment. Yet expanding operational powers also raises fundamental questions. Germany’s post-war legal and institutional framework deliberately placed strict limits on domestic security powers. Any adaptation must remain subject to effective parliamentary, judicial and public oversight.  

A resilient response requires more than new technical tools or stronger intelligence capabilities. It also depends on societal resilience: media literacy, civic education, trust in democratic institutions and a clear understanding that freedom of expression must not become a shield for coordinated foreign operations intended to dismantle the democratic order.  

Democracies must be able to defend themselves. The central task is to do so without sacrificing the rule-of-law principles and fundamental rights they are defending.  

Watch the full interview on TVP World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noaNRpow6xg