Germany's Interior Minister Dobrindt pushes sweeping intelligence reform and limits on transparency portals

Germany's interior minister Alexander Dobrindt announced the most extensive overhaul of the country's intelligence services since their post‑World‑War II creation. The draft law, spanning hundreds of pages, raises the threat level to “high,” expands powers to counter perceived foreign espionage by China, Russia and others, and seeks to eliminate the historic separation between the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the Military Counter‑Intelligence Service (MAD).

At the same time, the Interior Ministry plans to tighten the Freedom of Information Act. Internal memos propose restricting the right of parliamentarians and journalists to obtain government data, removing online platforms such as FragDenStaat, and introducing an identification requirement for requesters to curb automated or foreign‑state driven queries.