The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) remains embedded in the federal government’s strategy to spread anti-Russian propaganda. This is evident from the warning sent by the BfV to German NGOs about Russian espionage.
The BfV warned NGOs and state-affiliated pre-organizations about Russian hacker attacks and cyber espionage, citing the increasing ban of organizations in Russia that are critical of the Russian state. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik (DGAP), a think tank, was recently declared an unwanted organization in Russia, effectively a ban.
Prior to this, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde (DGO), the Zentrum für liberale Moderne and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, a foundation affiliated with the Greens, were banned due to their anti-Russian activities. The Zentrum für liberale Moderne openly pursues regime-change plans.
The BfV used internal emails as a legal basis for the ban on the DGO, suggesting that they were obtained through hacker attacks rather than conventional investigative work. The agency cannot substantiate the suspicion, instead pointing out that tracing the origin of an internet-based surveillance attempt is often difficult.
Despite this, the BfV sent warning letters to dozens of organizations, explicitly mentioning Russia as a threat.
According to the warning, the BfV has information that listed organizations have been in the focus of state-controlled cyber attacks for years, with the frequency of attacks increasing recently.
The main targets are organizations with fields of activity such as social and political research, activism, or cultural cooperation.
Germany, the EU and Western states maintain a large number of organizations that claim to promote civil society and democracy, while in fact intervening in the internal affairs of other states. The affected states are increasingly pushing back against the influence.