Bundestag votes on intelligence reform that grants Verfassungsschutz covert break-in powers

Germany's Bundestag voted Thursday on a sweeping overhaul of its intelligence services that would give both the foreign intelligence agency BND and the domestic Verfassungsschutz significantly expanded powers — including, in certain cases, the authority to enter homes covertly to install surveillance software, manipulate IT systems or neutralise weapons.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, a CSU politician, described the reform as a "Jahrhundertwerk" — a work of the century — and said he wanted to turn Germany's intelligence agencies into "real secret services." He cited a string of threats to justify the new powers, including sabotage on railway lines, cyberattacks on hospitals and administrations, the attack on Berlin's power supply, espionage in agencies and companies, and disinformation campaigns.

Opponents were sharper in their language. Clara Bünger, the Left party's security policy spokesperson, called the law "a monster that can summon spirits we will probably never get rid of." Her central objection was what she described as an erosion of the Trennungsgebot — the constitutional separation between police and intelligence services, a principle embedded in German law as a lesson drawn from the Nazi era. "Above all, the criticism of softening the separation principle remains," Bünger said. She argued that the intelligence service gets executive powers and may not only act in advance but also receives police powers.

AfD parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel also announced her party would vote against, calling the bill "an attack on the German constitutional state."

The Greens took a more differentiated position. Security policy spokesperson Konstantin von Notz acknowledged that additional oversight mechanisms had been added to the final text, but said the boundary with police jurisdiction remained blurred and that "transparency and legal protection for those affected" were still inadequate.

Critics across parties indicated they expected constitutional challenges to follow, with the Federal Constitutional Court likely to be asked to review the law.