COLUMN: Copenhagen Warns Its Factories; Berlin Bolsters Its Cybersecurity — Saviez-vous Que? — Tous les jours, découvrez de nouvelles infos pour briller en société !

Primary Sources:

Politiets Efterretningstjeneste (PET), the Danish Security Intelligence Service, sabotage threat assessment page: Russia is taking greater risks in the use of hybrid methods against Europe and within Europe; the threat of physical sabotage is classified as heightened in Denmark; actors include Russian agencies and operatives or groups acting on their behalf; targets listed—supply chains to Ukraine, civilian infrastructure, symbolic targets, warehouses, factories, shopping centers, department stores, public transportation—critical infrastructure cited as a future target, incidents cited in the first half of 2024, explicit mention that PET is currently unaware of any specific instances of Russian physical sabotage in Denmark

Politiets Efterretningstjeneste (PET), homepage and press release feed: the 2025 report by the Tilsynet med Efterretningstjenesterne on PET published on June 17, 2026; a note dated May 29, 2026, on the evolution of the terrorist threat and the growing influence of state actors, Iran in particular; finding dated March 25, 2026, stating that no foreign state influence activities were uncovered during the 2026 Danish parliamentary elections, despite critical messages disseminated by Russian online circles

German Federal Government: The Cabinet adopts the reform of intelligence service law on August 12, 2026: granting the BND access to computer systems with graduated levels of intrusion—from connected devices to personal phones, retention of content for six months and metadata for up to twelve months prior to review, biometric matching and artificial intelligence, active measures against identified threats—including the sabotage of chemical weapons laboratories and drone factories and the disabling of hacker servers, expanded data sharing with the Bundeswehr; active intervention by the BfV targeting objects rather than individuals in the event of substantial civil unrest or serious harm of foreign origin; an independent oversight board assuming the duties of the G10 Commission and authorizing active measures; reporting to the parliamentary oversight committee; statements by Nina Warken and Alexander Dobrindt

German Bundestag, first reading of the government’s draft bill on strengthening cybersecurity, June 25, 2026, Printed Paper 21/6585 and Bundesrat Opinion 21/7406: new powers for the BSI, the BKA, and the Federal Police; reading, modifying, and deleting data in computer systems; rerouting and blocking traffic; prohibition on operating a system; interception; limiting the Federal Police’s role to preventing danger; Alexander Dobrindt’s statement on the shift from investigation to defense; objections from Die Linke regarding the lack of judicial and parliamentary oversight; objections from the Greens regarding the chain of command and the risk of targeting the wrong entity, the Bundesrat’s request for judicial authorization for BKA intrusions, referral to the Interior Committee

German Bundestag, hib press office, submission of the draft bill on strengthening cybersecurity, June 22, 2026, Drucksache 21/6585: authority to prohibit the operation of computer systems, to divert, restrict, or block data traffic, to read, delete, or modify dangerous data; powers of the BSI to order telecommunications operators and digital service providers to deploy response teams; government justification based on the increase in the quality and quantity of attacks and the inadequacy of preventive measures

Fire Point Rocket Technologies, company press release on the start of construction of the rocket fuel plant in Denmark: located in Vojens, groundbreaking on February 2, 2025, production of rocket and drone fuel, operations scheduled to begin in the fall of 2026, remarks by Danish Minister of Industry Morten Bodskov on the need to help Ukrainian allies and provide them with a safe location to set up production

Secondary Sources:

Kyiv Independent, Denmark claims Russia is planning sabotage against Danish companies linked to Ukraine, September 3, 2026: statement by the head of PET’s counterintelligence division, attempts to recruit Danish citizens, defense companies supporting Ukraine specifically targeted, Denmark’s status as a member of NATO and the European Union and a major military donor; hosting Ukrainian production units on Danish soil; negotiating a drone agreement; participation in the Ukraine-led Freya anti-ballistic missile coalition; companies informed and urged to take precautions; article by Martin Fornusek

United24 Media, Germany counters Russian sabotage with targeting assistance and cyberwarfare powers: booby-trapped drone on August 4, 2026, at Leipzig-Halle Airport near a Ukrainian cargo plane; a bill expanding the BND’s active measures—including infiltrating adversarial networks to delete stolen data, sabotaging production systems in drone factories, physical destruction of Russian disinformation servers—announced September delivery of thousands of attack drones, IRIS-T missiles, and expanded intelligence cooperation for targeting, closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin

Den Korte Avis, PET asserts that Russia has planned a very specific act of sabotage against Denmark, September 3, 2026: Emil Græsholm, head of counterintelligence at PET, described the identification and preparation as concrete enough to warrant a public alert; planning is already underway; ordinary Danes are being recruited via social media and online platforms to identify factory access points and security measures; methods cited include arson and cutting cables; the Fire Point factory in Vojens produces solid fuel; analysts Flemming Splidsboel of the Danish Institute for International Studies, Jacob Kaarsbo, former chief defense intelligence analyst, and Anders Puck Nielsen of the Defense Academy all warn of a worsening situation

Flensborg Avis, PET asserts that Russia is preparing acts of sabotage against the Danish defense industry, September 3, 2026: Emil Græsholm, head of counterintelligence at PET, in an interview with the daily newspaper Berlingske, discussed attempts to recruit ordinary Danes, significant resources deployed by the agency to counter Russian sabotage, and a refusal to disclose the number of cases

Ritzau, news dispatch dated September 2, 2026: PET states that Russia is planning acts of sabotage against the defense industry: active preparation of acts of sabotage targeting the defense industry in Denmark, companies involved in military support for Ukraine, recruitment of ordinary Danes to scout access points and security measures, fire cited as a possible method; call for companies to strengthen their security; reminder of PET’s warning about the threat of physical sabotage in May 2024

Kristeligt Dagblad, Dansk Industri contacts companies following the Russian sabotage alert, September 3, 2026: Rasmus Anderskouv, head of societal security and emergency preparedness at Dansk Industri; recommended measures for access control and card systems, lockdown procedures, surveillance, lighting, and emergency protocols with defined roles and a chain of communication; refusal to say how many companies are affected, described as a very small part of the Danish economy; PET briefings for companies and industry organizations; concern about not causing unnecessary alarm

netzpolitik.org, intelligence reform, a turning point for spies, July 10, 2026: a text of nearly seven hundred pages, a deadline of late 2026 set by the Federal Constitutional Court, strategic surveillance covering up to 15% of the volume of telecommunications across all networks, biometric facial recognition, cyberattacks permitted in cases of imminent danger, access to unpatched vulnerabilities held by the BSI, abolition of the G10 Commission and expansion of the Independent Oversight Board, reduction of the Federal Data Protection Commissioner’s jurisdiction to non-sensitive administrative areas, Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider and her successor Moritz Hennemann; exclusion of intelligence agency activities from the right of access to information; a ban on public statistics regarding agents; classification of the council’s documentation; a warning to the operator of the DE-CIX node in Frankfurt regarding an accuracy rate of 99.9%, which results in millions of misclassified connections every day

netzpolitik.org, draft bill on strengthening cybersecurity, dangerous offensive, March 16, 2026, article by Anna Biselli: new powers for the federal police, the BKA, and the BSI to modify data traffic, alter or delete data, and shut down systems; scope extends to compromised systems and private devices; planned staffing levels by 2030: 264 positions at the BKA, 90 at the Federal Police, and 21 at the BSI; criticism from Sven Herpig regarding the qualitative expansion of intervention powers and the need for a constitutional debate extending to the Basic Law; warnings from the AG KRITIS collective about outages, supply disruptions, and interventions carried out without the operator’s knowledge

Euronews, “Germany Strengthens Its Intelligence Services in the Face of Threats from Foreign Powers,” August 12, 2026: adopted by the Cabinet, a text exceeding 700 pages, still requiring a vote by the Bundestag, with entry into force targeted for early 2027; cyberattacks and the disabling of hostile computer systems, blocking of payments, artificial intelligence, sabotage missions abroad reserved for rare cases, strict ban on assassinations and lethal operations, comments by Alexander Dobrindt on transforming the agency into a true secret service, criticism from Clara Bünger regarding a new German secret police, from Wolfgang Kubicki regarding a historic breaking of a taboo, and from the Civil Rights Society regarding a profound infringement on fundamental freedoms

Security-Insider: The BND must be able to actively manipulate foreign IT infrastructure; 2026: Cabinet decision of August 12, 2026; a text of approximately 700 pages coordinated between the Chancellery, the Interior Ministry, and the Justice Ministry under the leadership of Alexander Dobrindt; a deadline of late 2026 imposed for the BND reform; an independent oversight board composed of experienced legal experts conducting prior review; reservations expressed by the VATM federation regarding the vagueness of the obligations imposed on companies and by the eco federation regarding the risk of the BSI becoming a provider of exploitable vulnerabilities

NPR: Germany attributes the attempted drone attack in Leipzig to Russia, September 2, 2026: closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn as of September 18; closure of the Russian House in Berlin; strengthened entry controls for Russian nationals; summoning of the ambassador; approval of the intelligence services reform; a tally of approximately two hundred sabotage incidents documented by the Associated Press since the invasion; nearly two dozen rounds of European sanctions and approximately three thousand individuals and entities targeted; remarks by Alexander Dobrindt stating that Germany is not at war but is the target of a hybrid war every day

United24 Media, Germany is preparing to authorize offensive cyber operations in response to Russian hybrid threats, February 11, 2026: two bills are in the works, one revising the mandate of foreign intelligence to allow cyber operations abroad, the other expanding the powers of the security services; comments by Alexander Dobrindt to the Süddeutsche Zeitung on January 23 announcing a response—including abroad—and the destruction of the attackers’ infrastructure; more than 145 acts of sabotage documented in Europe since 2022 consistent with Russian hybrid methods; coordinated cyberattacks against the Polish power grid in December 2025

United24 Media, Fire Point unveils its Danish rocket fuel plant designed to produce more than 4,000 missiles per year: a site spanning more than 120,000 square meters, an existing 30,000-square-meter building repurposed for motor casings, and 90-centimeter-thick reinforced concrete walls for the new workshop, capacity ranging from 800 to over 4,000 missiles per year depending on demand, 300 to 400 jobs planned; operations set to begin in late 2027 following delays related to Danish safety and risk analysis requirements; engineering and intellectual property to remain in Ukraine; final assembly to remain in Ukraine at least until the end of the war; solid propellant described as the main bottleneck in global missile production

Kyiv Post, Germany to send new air defense systems to Ukraine, September 2, 2026: Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s announcement following a call with Friedrich Merz; new German air defense systems expected within the month; agreement on drones being finalized; Ukraine’s offer to share its experience in countering Russian drones; approximately 1,500 unmanned aerial vehicles launched by Russia in four days at the end of August, including about 800 jet-powered Shaheds

Al Jazeera, Germany accuses Russia of the August drone attack on Leipzig Airport, September 1, 2026: Federal government concludes that Russia was responsible for the hybrid attack; Russian ambassador summoned; Consulate General in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin closed; calls for additional European sanctions and travel restrictions; increased pressure on the “ghost fleet”; reactions from Ursula von der Leyen and Mark Rutte

Primary Sources:

Secondary Sources:

Comments