Germany just warned Russia could drag it into war

Germany's foreign intelligence chief just told parliament something big.

He says Germany could get pulled into a violent conflict with Russia.

And he says Russia already sees Germany as a main enemy.

The man who said it is Martin Jäger. He runs the BND, Germany's foreign intelligence service.

He said it this morning. At the Bundestag. In front of lawmakers.

And here's why that's unusual. Spy chiefs in Germany normally only brief parliament behind closed doors. This is the one hearing a year that happens in public.

So what exactly did he say?

Martin Jäger says quote "Germany is in danger of becoming embroiled in a violent conflict with Russia".

That's Germany's own spy chief naming direct conflict with Russia as a real possibility. Not something distant.

He points to one example. The attempted attack in Leipzig.

That attack happened about two months ago. On 4 August, a device loaded with explosives was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Germany has officially blamed Russia for it.

And Jäger went further than that.

He says no other country poses such a direct, comprehensive and concrete threat to Germany right now.

He says Russia is forcing this confrontation on Germany, and sees it as a main adversary. Because Germany won't accept Russia's expansionist policies, or its war against Ukraine.

That's the head of German foreign intelligence saying Russia has made Germany its main adversary. On the record.

He calls it a shadow war. Undeclared. One he says cannot be understood using normal military or legal categories.

He says Russian intelligence services are working highly professionally and ruthlessly. And that the threat of attacks on targets in Germany is real and immediate, right now.

According to Jäger, Russia's leadership wants one thing. To make sure no political decisions against Moscow ever get taken in Berlin, or in any other European capital.

The bigger goal, he says, is to break Europe's political support for Ukraine. And he warned of intimidation, interference, and probably new nuclear threats too.

He says Germany has become a major obstacle to Russia's push for power across Europe. And that's exactly why it's become a target.

His words on that: those who do not submit become an enemy. That's Moscow's thinking, he says.

So is this heading toward open war?

Not according to the BND's own assessment, right now. The service says it sees no sign of a large-scale Russian attack on NATO territory.

But it does think there could be low-level military activity by Russia. Especially in the Baltic region.

Now, the timing here matters.

Jäger gave this warning one day after Friedrich Merz, Germany's Chancellor, made a surprise visit to Kyiv. He pledged more German military aid to Ukraine while he was there.

Friedrich Merz warned that if Russia is not stopped, its war machine will eventually turn on Germany too.

So that's Germany's Chancellor and Germany's spy chief, a day apart, saying the same thing. This war does not stay inside Ukraine.

And what does Russia say to all this?

Russia's position is that it is the one being threatened, not the one doing the threatening.

Four days before Jäger's hearing, Vladimir Putin, Russia's President, said quote "we have no intention of attacking anyone".

Russia has repeatedly denied it plans to attack any NATO country.

No Russian official has responded directly to what Jäger told the Bundestag today.

And here's what we still don't know.

Whether Berlin changes military spending because of this. Whether Germany formally raises its threat assessment of Russia. How far this shadow war goes beyond drone incidents like Leipzig.

Germany's spy chief has just said, in public, that his country is a named target.

Of a country that says it's targeting no one at all.