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Wind farm in the North Sea
Photo: McPHOTO / IMAGO
According to the Union's wishes, the federal police should be given additional powers.
The government must present a “Maritime Security Act” and legislatively bundle the federal maritime competencies, according to a Bundestag proposal from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.
Sea areas and the supply structures there are targets of hybrid warfare, saboteurs or terrorists.
According to the paper, “new valuable infrastructure” is being built with LNG terminals and offshore wind farms that need to be protected.
Parliament is expected to consider the demands next week.
With the legislative initiative, the Union wants to assign new tasks to the Federal Police: In the future, they will be responsible for "preventing deliberate damage to underwater infrastructure."
The licensing and safety authorities should also be able to oblige the operators of LNG terminals and offshore wind turbines to take security measures.
The Union wants to have legal changes examined so that the Navy can also become more involved.
“Not on the radar at all”
According to SPIEGEL information, CDU leader Friedrich Merz will hold talks with representatives of the maritime industry in Hamburg next week.
The CDU domestic politician Christoph de Vries said that there is a “jungle of responsibilities” when it comes to maritime security.
“Damage to pipelines, internet cables or offshore wind turbines has far-reaching consequences for energy and communications transfer, while at the same time there is a low risk of being identified as a terrorist or saboteur,” said the Bundestag member.
"Unfortunately, the federal government doesn't have this issue on its radar at all, even though the threat situation at sea is significant."
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