German opposition slams spy agency ‘revolution’

The government is seeking broad new powers for the BfV to conduct active operations on home soil A sweeping overhaul of Germany’s intelligence services proposed by the government could infringe on police powers in violation of constitutional safeguards, opposition politicians have warned.On Wednesday, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt presented a 730-page package comprising three draft laws that would significantly expand the powers of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies respectively.While there is broad political agreement that Germany’s security apparatus requires modernization, critics say the proposed expansion of the BfV’s mandate goes too far. Germany has traditionally maintained a strict separation between intelligence gathering and police work to prevent concentration of power.“Dobrindt, with these demands that he hastily dictated into the draft legislation, is doing far more harm than good,” Free Democratic Party (FDP) leader Wolfgang Kubicki told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The BfV is currently focused on collecting and analyzing data. Un...