Alexander Dobrindt defends €16.7 billion interior budget against Russian hybrid threats

Budget expansion and enhanced powers

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt presented the 2027 draft budget for the Federal Ministry of the Interior in the Bundestag on 10 September 2026. The budget is set to expand by more than €950 million to reach €16.7 billion. Under the funding plan, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Police will receive additional personnel. The Federal Office for Information Security, which oversees national cybersecurity, and the Federal Agency for Technical Relief will both receive increased funding allocations. Dobrindt rejected parliamentary pushback against proposed digital investigative authorities and a planned intelligence service overhaul.

“We are not at war, but we are a daily target of hybrid warfare.”

Hybrid attacks and sabotage investigations

The minister detailed recent security incidents following a special session of the parliamentary interior committee requested by the Green Party. Dobrindt warned that Russian saboteurs and disposable agents continue trying to strike German targets. In Munich earlier this month, two Bulgarian nationals, a 28-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man, threw incendiary devices from a vehicle near premises hosting defense technology contractor Rohde & Schwarz and drone manufacturer Helsing, a supplier to Ukrainian armed forces. Authorities remanded both suspects into custody and searched three apartments in the Munich district. Dobrindt also tied the Munich incident to power grid disruptions, cyberattacks on the Berlin municipal administration, and an explosives-laden drone discovered in early August near Ukrainian transport aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport.

Debate over intelligence and evidence

Coalition politicians defended the government's formal attribution of the Leipzig airport incident to Russia against demands for immediate disclosure of forensic evidence. Social Democratic Party interior policy spokesman Sebastian Fiedler stated that criminal proceedings remain under the authority of public prosecutors and belong in a courtroom rather than in early public releases. Alexander Throm of the Christian Democratic Union said calls from the AfD, BSW, and Die Linke for public proof echoed the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who previously denied involvement and asked where the evidence was. Dobrindt maintained that naming perpetrators of hybrid operations is necessary, stating that those who repeatedly demand evidence while ignoring existing findings engage in sabotage.

Migration figures and parliamentary criticism

Opposition members of parliament voiced strong objections to funding allocations across the interior portfolio. Die Linke politician Dietmar Bartsch characterized the draft budget as fiscally irresponsible, criticizing budget reductions for civic education programs in light of recent AfD state election gains in Saxony-Anhalt. Green Party representatives Leon Eckert and Marcel Emmerich criticized reductions in funding for immigrant integration courses, with Emmerich accusing the minister of establishing redundant administrative centers. In response, Dobrindt cited border enforcement statistics, noting that authorities prevented 60,000 unauthorized entries and arrested 1,700 smugglers during the legislative period. He also announced that temporary border controls would remain in place beyond 15 September 2026, pointing to a roughly 75% drop in first-time asylum applications compared to 2024 levels.