Germany BfV Annual Report Identifies Russia as Primary Threat and Warns of Chinese Espionage and Iranian Operations on German Soil

Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) presented its 2025 annual report Tuesday in Berlin, recording 58,851 extremism-linked offenses, up from 57,701 in 2024, with violent acts rising roughly 10 percent to 3,294 12. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and BfV President Sinan Selen identified right-wing extremism as the largest domestic threat, with right-wing extremist numbers up about 17 percent to 58,700, while also citing rising left-wing extremist violence including arson attacks on Berlin's power grid in January and a series of attacks in the Munich area 123. On espionage, the BfV report named Russia, China, and Iran as the main sources of intelligence activity targeting German politics, military, business, and science in 2025 12, and Selen said Russia "views Germany as a key adversary in Europe" and employs the "full spectrum" of hybrid tools, including suspected use of low-level recruited agents for sabotage and espionage 3. Selen separately told AFP that Russia could escalate sabotage, cyberattacks, and disinformation ahead of Germany's five regional elections in 2026, given the country's role as a NATO logistics hub 4, while the report also flagged Iran-linked threats to Jewish and Israeli targets in Germany and transnational repression of exiled dissidents 13.