But now, as the Kremlin's hybrid actions escalate, these constitutional protections have an unintended side effect: they limit Germany's ability to defend itself against Moscow's provocations.
— We need to change the regulations so that the only entities that can deal with this, namely the Bundeswehr, are given the authority to do so, says Thomas Röwekamp, chairman of the defense committee in the German Bundestag and a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative bloc.
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Although the Bundeswehr can theoretically take up arms in the country in the event of a serious invasion, legal experts say that the current drone incursions do not qualify as sufficiently serious attacks. Under current law, the Bundeswehr can only shoot down drones over military bases.
There is no evidence that any of the drones that recently entered German airspace were armed. However, according to German authorities, the Kremlin appears to be using drones for espionage purposes. Last year There were reports of unexplained cases of drones appearing over facilities belonging to the weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall and the chemical concern BASF.
German police have the right to shoot down such drones if they deem it necessary, but they do not have the technical capacity to do so. — The federal police, as well as almost all police forces of the federal states, currently have no means of defending themselves against drones, adds the chairman of the defense committee, Röwekamp.
The military has greater capabilities in this regard, but is largely unable to take action due to the country's history.
In Imperial Germany and the Weimar Republic before World War II, the German army “was used frequently and ruthlessly, usually to attack social democrats and left-wing governments,” explains public law professor Kathrin Groh of the Bundeswehr University in Munich. — The 1949 constitution sought to avoid a repetition of such actions, which is why we now have strict regulations regarding the Bundeswehr.
Adapting to the “new reality”
This puts German leaders in a difficult position as they grapple with how to respond to the Kremlin's provocations.
Currently, the Bundeswehr can only provide what the constitution calls “administrative assistance” in defense against drones. Its forces can, for example, help identify drones – as was the case recently when drones were spotted over Munich airport.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt plans to create a drone defense unit within the federal police and establish a national drone defense center that will enable the police, intelligence services and military to pool resources. The minister also intends to push through a law that will allow the military to shoot down drones in German airspace in the event of a threat to life.
However, the constitutionality of such a law remains uncertain. — If Dobrindt expects more than administrative assistance from the military, the case will go to the constitutional court, says Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a German politician who chairs the European Parliament's security and defense committee.
This is where the situation becomes particularly difficult for Merz's relatively weak coalition of center-right conservatives and center-left social democrats. Due to the rise of fringe political groups, including the far-right Alternative for Germany party, Merz has one of the weakest majorities in Germany's post-war history — and is far from having the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution.
This risks leaving Germany relatively defenseless against Kremlin drone incursions for the foreseeable future — or at least until police develop the capacity to combat them.
