“We are not at war with Russia...”

“We are not at war.” In Germany, comments are being made regarding the statements of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Sergey Lavrov described the reaction of Germany to the attempted sabotage in Leipzig, including the decision to close the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin, as the “beginning of a real war.” Meanwhile, the German government unequivocally states that Germany is not in a state of war with the Russian Federation. “We are not at war; however, we are subjected daily to various forms of hybrid military influence,” said the German Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul pointed out that Germany is increasingly becoming one of Russia's “military targets.” Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated a year ago: “We are not in a state of war, but we no longer live in conditions of peace.” This assessment is supported by security expert Sonke Mararens from Kiel University. “No, at the moment Germany is not in a state of war. We are facing hybrid actions from other countries, but we are not at war,” he said in an interview with Deutsche Welle. Mararens noted that only the Bundestag in Germany can determine that the state is at war - and this requires a physical attack on the country. Professor of International Criminal Law at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Christoph Saferling, stated in an article for the Tagesspiegel that “hybrid warfare” from the perspective of international law is not yet an armed conflict. Such operations are more likely to fall under the definitions of sabotage, espionage, and terrorism. Armed conflict is usually considered to be an open attack - typically by armed forces that have state insignia.