56 · MT 2/2023 Open your eyes to... interest and to and intervene in a contested environment. Accomplishing these tasks made them rediscover their unique status of military capable forces proficient of undertaking police missions under civilian control. Current events demanded homeland security forces to also face hybrid attacks on European countries, such as the migratory chaos directed in 2021 towards Lithuania, probably orchestrated by Russia and Belarus. Hybrid attacks exploit the “grey areas” between war and peace. Unassumed by their perpetrators, inaccessible to the public, immune to conventional military responses, hybrid attacks aim at developing a climate of social contrast, diffidence, and polarisation in the enemy’s society . In the last few years, homeland security forces had to face hybrid attacks deep inside the European territories, often covertly and without media coverage. Indeed, with the reduction in the size of the Armed Forces, territorial control by force falls completely under the responsibility of internal security forces. In case of unattributed armed attacks, homeland security forces can act according to their comprehensive military, administrative and judicial capacities, thus guaranteeing the continuity of governmental action regardless of the qualification given to the aggression. Since 1980s, security forces have been exploited to protect national territories from foreign military actions. The end of the Cold War coincided with a clear reduction in the means devoted to this mission. Today, given the evolution of threats, homeland security forces and Armed Forces have rediscovered this function, and they are studying conceptual overhauls of this forgotten task. This work could lead to a redefinition of the attributions devolved to each ministerial department – Defence Ministries and Ministries of the Interior - in terms of responsibility and conduct of operations. In this renewed framework, homeland security forces are likely to receive additional resources, as already announced by some European Ministers of the Interior. According to general tendencies, homeland security forces will see their equipment grow in quantity and quality in order to have the means to face a wide range of situations. Expected major procurement programmes include new helicopters, armoured vehicles, general purpose vehicles, UAVs, geospatial intelligence services, satellite surveillance services, encrypted communications, and ISR assets. A stress will be also put on projection and manoeuvre capabilities through dedicated vehicles and equipment but also with dedicated training programmes. This should enable security forces to intercept armed groups virtually everywhere on their national territory. Furthermore, homeland security forces will expand their CBRN component and their cyberspace surveillance capability. The defence of the national territory is obviously not only a matter of weapons, vehicles, and equipment. It requires the support and participation of the population. This is the very principle of a “national” defence, and the condition of its effectiveness. Sometimes this is called “civil resilience”. The war in Ukraine shows that this idea has lost none perimeter of action is expanding. Albeit the threat put to European territory by Islamist radicalization and jihadism seems to fade away, new missions arise and demand more resources, while war at the gates pushes security forces to rediscover some of their base tasks in mastering national security. For instance, homeland security forces (police, gendarmeries corps) intervened in Ukraine to ensure the protection and transfer of diplomatic personnel, threatened by the Russian offensive towards Kyiv and major cities. In addition, European experts and investigators were deployed at the request of the Ukrainian authorities to gather evidence of possible war crimes. In so doing, European homeland security forces demonstrated their capacity of operating beyond national borders to project national g Rheinmetall’s Caracal 4x4 multipurpose vehicle. Another version of the Survivor-R showcased at the exhibition. e A test for Germany? The Federal Republic of Germany is a sovereign state. This stands for a democracy that has been practiced over many decades. The western victorious powers played an important part in this. However, today’s Germany is not under foreign administration by them, as claimed by the so-called Reichsbürger scene. As the year 2022 ended, a group of “Reich Citizens” and conspiracy ideologues made a name for themselves when details of possible coup plans were surfacing. As a result, they wanted to overcome the existing federal system – and democracy – in Germany, using violence to replace it with their own form of state. In a concerted police action in several federal states (on 7 December 2022), 25 members from the Reichsbürger scene were arrested. Internal security must never be underestimated, even against the background of steadily increasing crises that can be observed throughout Europe and elsewhere. Sure, the crises of the past several years – first and foremost the wave of refugees from war zones (2015), then the Corona pandemic, Russia’s unlawful attack on Ukraine and the energy crisis – have kept some things hidden in the background. The plans for a coup that came to light, even if they do not point to a specific point in time, could only succeed because there has – and is – sufficient space for extremists and criminals to hide – the Reichsbürger scene is broad and may range from individuals to transnational associations and online networks. All these are connected by the “fundamental rejection of the legitimacy and sovreignty of the Federal Republic of Germany and the existing legal system,” as summarized in a report that was released by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 2020. To conclude, there will be an increase in risks that may be a threat to internal security in the years to come. Stefan Nitschke, Editor-In-Chief of Wehrtechnik and Naval Forces
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