Last week the head of MI5 warned the country that Moscow’s intelligence agencies were carrying out “arson” and “sabotage” in Britain. Yesterday, we learnt that Russia is suspected of having planted an incendiary device on a plane to the UK.
The parcel containing the device subsequently caught fire while stored in a warehouse in Birmingham; had it instead ignited mid-flight, the consequences could have been catastrophic.
This fire was not the only suspicious event of its type. A delay to a flight in Leipzig may have prevented disaster when a parcel similarly caught fire in July. But while Britain’s security services appear to be on top of the threat, the same cannot be said of their peers in Germany.
The relationship between Moscow and Berlin has often been uncomfortably close. Work continued on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline until just two days before Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while Germany has reportedly opposed attempts to restrict the movement of Russian spies in Europe.
As the former head of German intelligence recently put it, the country needs to “wake up” and realise “there is a serious danger”. It certainly needs to improve its approach to security.
Use of off-the-shelf videophone technology by the German military led to British military secrets being leaked to Russia, an alleged plot to assassinate the head of a German weapons provider was identified only by American intelligence services, and a large fire at an arms factory in Berlin is believed to have been caused by Russian saboteurs.
It is a potent reminder that a coalition is only as secure as its weakest link. Germany must strive to shed its reputation as Europe’s soft underbelly.
