German spy chief hopes US will 'soon be at our side again'

The president of Germany's Foreign Intelligence Service (BND) told DW he is confident that intelligence sharing with the US will continue, despite a change of foreign policy course in Washington.

In his first public statement since President Donald Trump took office, Bruno Kahl said protecting Ukraine from Russia was something the West "must achieve together."

"We very much hope that the Americans will soon be at our side again to help protect Ukraine from the aggression coming from the east," he said. 

What Germany's spy chief said about the threat to Europe from Russia

Reacting to the news that Washington has restricted the sharing of military intelligence with Ukraine, Kahl said that the BND was now redoubling its efforts to work with other European intelligence services "to see what we can do to keep Ukraine as informed as possible and to equip it so that it can defend itself."

He warned that the kind of swift end to the war that Trump is seeking would "enable the Russians to focus their energy against Europe."

"We have seen hybrid influence operations, including during the elections that took place in Europe, right up to acts of sabotage ... in a manner that is unprecedented in the recent past," he said. 

Kahl made reference to his previous warning that Russia may be looking to test the "reliability of NATO's [collective defense clause] Article 5."

"We very much hope we won’t face the dilemma of it being tested. But we have to assume that Russia wants to put the unity of the West to the test," he said.

The effect of Trump's policies on security

The spy chief went on to say that the Trump administration taking a different approach to nearly every conflict meant concerns over international security were "increasing, rather than decreasing," particularly as Russia ramps up spying on Europe and NATO member states.

Kahl rejected the notion that a more Russia-friendly stance within the White House meant that Germany would stop sharing information with a link to Russia with the US.

"We all check our phones every morning to see what happened overnight, so we're not immune to surprises, even the radical ones," he said. Citing trust built up over decades between intelligence officials, he said "we have an interest in maintaining these working relationships."

Intelligence sharing also key to preventing terror attacks

Kahl emphasized that intelligence sharing was also key to averting threats from international terrorism. Kahl's comments echoed observations by other experts that the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, were partly the cause of a breakdown of intelligence sharing — both beween US agencies and internationally.

"No country can fight all the threats by itself," he said. "And that is why our friends on the other side of the Atlantic are very dependent on our information, just as we are on theirs."

The ability of international terrorism to "export terror to Europe once again via its main players, such as IS and Al Qaeda" had not diminished, he said, but was "unfortunately back."

Intelligence sharing is not just vital to open conflicts, Kahl said. Giving the example of the far-right NSU terror cell that operated in Germany in the early 2000s, the BND president explained that the practice was key when "many small individual incidents later turned out to have a larger context."

Kahl called on lawmakers to give Germany's intelligence agencies more powers, such as allowing them to transfer certain information to the military, the Bundeswehr.

"You may not believe it, but the legal basis for this is still missing," he said. Repeated attempts by the governments of former Chancellor Angela Merkel and outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz had failed in this regard.

Kahl said he has hope that likely future Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has been particularly hawkish on Russia, will be able to get the legislation through parliament.

Edited by: Saim Inayatullah, Rob Turner