•Updated
13:51
Speaking after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Alexander Dobrindt detailed how the Federal Police Act would be reformed.
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Germany will give its federal police the power to shoot down drones, following the disruption caused by recent unknown drone sightings at Munich Airport.
On Wednesday, the cabinet approved the new reform, which now awaits approval in parliament.
The move comes after suspicious drone incursions at Munich Airport led to air traffic being suspended for several hours last week, with thousands of passengers directly affected.
Other European countries, including Denmark and Lithuania, have also spotted rogue drones in recent weeks.
In response, EU leaders such as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have attributed the incidents to Russian hybrid warfare, something Moscow denies.
Days after the drone sightings in Munich, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said federal police reform is intended to reorganise responsibilities and make it easier to defend against drones.
Three pillars for drone defence are to be anchored in the new Federal Police Act in order to respond to the “occurrence of increased drone sightings”, Dobrindt noted.
In a bid to improve cooperation, a joint federal and state drone defence centre will be established.
The federal police will also create their own drone defence unit this year, he said, adding that the third pillar of the plan will be the research and development of drone defence.
To build up expertise, Germany is in dialogue with countries with significantly more experience, such as Israel and Ukraine.
Defence measures would include disrupting drones with electromagnetic waves, and intercepting and shooting them down in cases were danger exists, Dobrindt explained.
The decision to modernise the Federal Police Act had been under discussion for years but had not been successful in previous electoral periods. It was last updated in 1994.
“Today we are creating a strong law for the federal police,” said Dobrindt, introducing the reform. “We are reacting decisively, effectively and technically at the cutting edge.”
Bavaria’s Minister President Markus Söder (CSU) had already moved to authorise the shooting down of drones by state police.
On Wednesday morning, the federal cabinet also discussed measures against knife violence. Following the establishment of gun and knife ban zones, the country’s police are now authorised to carry out checks in these areas regardless of suspicion.
