By Maria Martinez
BERLIN, Sept 1 (Reuters) – The German government said on Tuesday that it had concluded that Russia was responsible for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month and ordered a series of measures in response, including the closure of a consulate and a Russian cultural centre in Berlin.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said intelligence findings indicated that individuals involved in the attack were acting on behalf of Russian state agencies.
“Taken together, police investigations, patterns of the offences and intelligence findings establish Russian responsibility for the attempted attack at Leipzig Airport,” he said.
The announcement came at a sensitive political moment in Germany, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has called for closer ties with Moscow, leading polls ahead of a state election.
The eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt holds an election on September 6. The AfD currently holds a strong lead in opinion polls, 40% compared with 23% for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democrats.
AfD leader Tino Chrupalla in a Welt TV interview accused the German government of “double standards” in blaming Moscow.
“Above all, I would have welcomed it if the same had been done in response to Ukraine’s attack on Nord Stream,” Chrupalla said on Tuesday.
Germany has been hit by a series of incidents that have prompted authorities to consider how to better protect critical infrastructure against what officials describe as a growing threat from cyber and hybrid attacks.
The power grid in the eastern German state of Brandenburg was the target of sabotage on Tuesday after unexploded incendiary devices damaged power lines, the state’s interior minister said, without ruling out the possibility that foreign powers were behind the attack.
Standing alongside Dobrindt, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany did not view Leipzig as an isolated incident.
“It fits into a broader pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe,” he said.
‘GERMANY WILL DEFEND ITSELF’
Wadephul said Germany’s response would include closing Russia’s consulate general in Bonn and terminating its agreement with the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin.
“Germany remains secure, and Germany will defend itself against adversaries who seek to create insecurity,” Wadephul said. “We will not allow Russia’s attacks to divide or intimidate us in our social cohesion.”
Russia’s ambassador to Germany was summoned on Tuesday and he was seen by a Reuters photographer entering the German foreign ministry in Berlin.
Responding to Germany’s announcement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would respond to what she called Berlin’s “anti-Russian action,” according to Interfax news agency. She did not elaborate.
The Russian Embassy in Berlin had previously dismissed such accusations as “fabricated provocation” and as “a new wave of anti-Russian hysteria in Germany.”
“If such serious accusations are being made, they should be supported by evidence. To my knowledge, none has been presented,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russia’s state-run RIA news agency, speaking to reporters in Kyrgyzstan.
“It is clear that Germany is pursuing a path of further escalation,” Peskov added.
EU COUNTRIES EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH GERMANY
Germany and Europe more widely face a serious threat from such “hybrid” actions, the interior minister said. “These actions target critical infrastructure, defence companies and support for Ukraine.”
Germany will also push within the European Union for additional sanctions listings and travel restrictions on Russian nationals, while increasing pressure on Russia’s “shadow fleet,” Wadephul said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she would discuss the attack on Wednesday with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and EU foreign ministers would prepare a joint response.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, among others, expressed support for Germany.
“Looking forward to discussing collective countermeasures at the Gymnich meeting in Ireland tonight and tomorrow,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on X. “Full solidarity with Germany.”
“Whenever Russian hybrid activities target one of our allies, we are all exposed,” the Czech Foreign Ministry said on X.
Russia’s hybrid activities targeting European states have increased in recent years. Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania have all confirmed various forms of violations and hostile actions, Sweden’s Kristersson said.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that any Russian attempts to undermine support for Ukraine were “doomed to fail.”
Wadephul said Germany would “continue its civilian and military support for Ukraine and will resolutely continue its solidarity with Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s war of aggression.”
(Reporting by Maria Martinez and James Mackenzie, additional reporting by Alan Charlish, William James, Ronald Popeski, Jan Lopatka, Simon Johnson, Miranda Murray, Fabrizio Bensch and Kirsti Knolle.Editing by Gareth Jones, Kevin Liffey and Sanjeev Miglani)
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