On Monday, German intelligence accused Russia of escalating the “shadow war” it is waging against Germany, noting that this increases the risk of an armed conflict erupting.
“Germany faces the risk of being drawn into a violent conflict with Russia,” Martin Jäger, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, said during a hearing before the Parliament’s Intelligence Committee. He stressed: “No country currently poses such a direct, comprehensive and tangible threat to Germany.”
He referred to the attempted attack that targeted a Ukrainian transport plane at Leipzig Airport last August, which was suspected to have been carried out by Russian agents, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.
Germany has repeatedly accused Russia of waging a “multi-method” campaign that includes espionage, sabotage, and other operations, which Moscow strongly denies.
Germany, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has invested record amounts of money to rebuild its military forces in the face of Russia. It became the first supporter of Ukraine in the war that Russia has been waging against it for more than 4 and a half years. Which makes it, according to the government, the first target of hostile Russian operations, ranging from media disinformation, to assassination attempts, to espionage activities.
On Sunday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made an unannounced visit to Kiev, where he announced the provision of more military aid to Ukraine, pledging to continue his support for this country.
Jäger said that Germany “has become a major obstacle to Russia’s expansion of its influence and dominance in Europe.” Which makes it “a target of Russian movements.”
He pointed out that his agency does not currently see “any indication” of Russian plans to launch a major military attack on a NATO member state, but warned that “limited Russian military activities may be carried out, especially in the Baltic countries.”
He continued that the intelligence services play an essential role in this “shadow war,” stressing the importance of a large-scale reform of the German intelligence services approved earlier this year, which allows German agents to carry out more offensive covert operations that go beyond information gathering.
For his part, the head of the Internal Intelligence Service, Sinan Selen, stressed that Russian operations go far beyond ordinary espionage operations and include “sabotage and assassination operations.”
“Defense industries and military infrastructure are in the line of fire,” he said, adding that Moscow “has come to accept the possibility of civilian casualties” in its violent campaign against Germany.
The Norwegian government announced today (Monday) that it intends to propose a temporary ban on the use of glasses equipped with artificial intelligence in some public places, attributing this to its concern about the possibility of taking pictures, video or audio recordings of individuals without their knowledge.
The proposal reflects a broader global pushback against camera-equipped smart glasses amid privacy concerns.
The government said in a statement that the ban may apply to usual gathering places such as parks, beaches, museums, shopping malls and public events.
In turn, Minister of Digitization and Public Governance Torgeir Mikaelsen said: “I am concerned about the presence of (this) new and highly influential technology in places where pictures, video or audio recordings of individuals could be taken without their knowledge.”
According to what Reuters news agency reported, this ban may also be applied in schools, playgrounds, and youth clubs, as well as in places that require privacy, such as doctors’ offices, swimming pools, and gyms that contain changing rooms.
The government has made clear that it is not seeking an outright ban and that it will not include private use where others are not at risk of being photographed without their consent. The government said it would consider what type of technology would be covered by the ban and whether it would apply to eyeglasses equipped with a camera and voice recorder, glasses with a camera and artificial intelligence functions, or other technological devices that can be used surreptitiously by attaching them to or placing them inside clothing and are equipped with a camera, voice recorder and/or artificial intelligence.
The minority government has announced that it will submit a draft law to Parliament as soon as possible and will set up a team of experts to advise on establishing a permanent national regulation regulating the use of technology that can be used surreptitiously.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on Monday for early elections to be held on November 29, after Parliament refused to adopt measures to ease the housing crisis proposed by his government, which lacks a parliamentary majority.
Friday's defeat represents the latest political setback for the Socialist prime minister, one of the few left-wing European prime ministers still in power.
“In order to carry out the deep, pending reforms we need... we must mobilize our energies and obtain a much larger, progressive majority that enables us to appease the elites, extract new social gains, and continue to change Spain,” Sánchez, who has been in office since 2018, said in a speech from Moncloa Palace.
Tens of thousands of protesters took part in marches on Saturday in Madrid and other Spanish cities, demanding the provision of affordable housing. The opposition parties in the Spanish Parliament dropped the measures proposed by the government, which included the automatic renewal of lease contracts and imposing restrictions on the eviction of tenants from the most vulnerable groups. This defeat angered protesters against the country's high housing costs, and also highlighted the difficulties facing the Sanchez-led coalition government in passing legislation.
Spain has been operating for years under a 2023 budget, the latest national spending plan approved by the Sánchez government. These demonstrations came to exacerbate a crisis that has been going on for more than a week, and began after Maricarmen Abascal (87 years old) was forced last month to vacate the apartment in which she had lived for decades in Madrid because she was unable to afford the rent after it had increased five times.
Hundreds of protesters are camping out more than a week ago in the heart of Madrid to press for reforms. Recent opinion polls generally indicate that the conservative Popular Party, the main opposition party, is ahead of the Socialists.
High prices
Housing has been a major concern for Spaniards for years; The volume of supply is less than the demand, and rents and house prices are rising similar to what is happening in the rest of the European Union countries. Average rents in Spain have nearly doubled over the past decade, while asking prices for homes have risen by about 90 percent, according to data from the Idealista real estate website.
The Abascal eviction has fueled long-simmering anger over skyrocketing housing costs. Housing activists reported that the retired woman was forced to leave her apartment in Madrid, where she lived for more than seven decades, after it was acquired by an investment company that sought to raise the rent by 275 percent.
After angry reactions, the new owners reached an agreement with her that would allow her to return to the apartment for a lower rent. In another context, the draft housing laws presented by the leftist coalition led by Sanchez to Parliament were rejected, after the Catalan separatist “Guents” party, on whose support the government depends, voted against them, considering that they were prepared in a hurry and that they would exacerbate the housing crisis.
Repercussions of the Ceuta crisis
Sánchez defended his government's record in his speech, noting that the Spanish economy has grown at a faster pace since he came to power than other major European economies. But after 8 years in power, Sanchez is also facing pressure resulting from corruption scandals involving those close to him, including his wife and prominent figures in the Socialist Party. The Prime Minister also faced widespread criticism over his handling of the crisis in the city of Ceuta (the Spanish enclave in North Africa), where thousands of migrants from Morocco entered the city in late July.
The situation has gradually deteriorated at the European land border with Africa, and many migrants are still sleeping in makeshift camps. These events inflamed tensions and led to almost daily protests from local residents demanding that things return to normal.
Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Viejo on Saturday renewed Sanchez's call for elections, saying the country "can no longer take it." Although opinion polls show the Popular Party's lead, they indicate that the party will not obtain an absolute majority in Parliament, and will need the support of the far-right Fox Party to form the government.
