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Security Debate Intensifies in Bavaria as Söder Pushes 'Shoot Down' Policy on Unauthorised Drones: What's on 'bayern-heute' By [BBC Central Europe Correspondent]
Munich, Bavaria A growing debate over critical infrastructure security has intensified in Germany’s largest state, Bavaria, after an incident at Munich Airport. The disruption has propelled Minister-President Markus Söder to advocate for radical changes to policing powers, calling for state police to be authorised to shoot down unidentified, unauthorised drones immediately. The policy proposal—a central theme of the current 'bayern-heute' political agenda—is viewed by critics as a direct challenge to federal law and has sparked a constitutional discussion across the country over state-level security authority. The push for a heightened security stance follows the temporary shutdown of Munich Airport’s operations on Wednesday evening. The closure, triggered by multiple sightings of suspicious, small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in restricted airspace, grounded 17 flights and forced 15 arriving aircraft to be diverted to nearby airports including Stuttgart, Nuremberg, and Frankfurt, affecting thousands of passengers. While the objects were not intercepted or identified, the incident mirrored similar security breaches seen across other major European transport hubs in recent weeks, placing the focus squarely on the vulnerability of critical infrastructure. Bavaria’s Minister-President, Markus Söder, a leading figure in the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), responded to the event with immediate and forceful demands for policy change. “The rule must now be: shoot down drones instead of waiting,” Mr.
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Söder stated, adding that the state cabinet was already drafting legislation to grant this authority to Bavarian police forces. This assertive stance reflects a long-held conservative commitment in Bavaria to maintain robust security and order, often positioning the state government at odds with the federal coalition in Berlin on security matters. The proposal hinges on granting state authorities the power to bypass the existing, often cumbersome, regulatory framework governing the use of force in response to airspace violations. Federal law, which primarily governs German airspace, currently restricts such lethal interception actions to specific federal agencies and military units, typically only in cases of direct and imminent threat to life, making a unilateral "shoot-down" order by state police highly controversial. A spokesperson for the Bavarian Interior Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing legal drafting process, asserted that the state’s approach was necessary to protect citizens and crucial assets. “We cannot wait for federal bureaucracy to react when a potential threat is hovering over millions of euros worth of infrastructure and thousands of lives,” the spokesperson said. “Bavaria is leading the way to ensure that our police are equipped with the means to act decisively in a modern security landscape. ” However, prominent legal scholars and opposition politicians have raised serious constitutional concerns.
Dr. Helena Weber, a professor of public law at the University of Hamburg, told BBC News that the Bavarian proposal presents a complex legal conflict. “Any state law authorising the destruction of an aircraft, even an unmanned one, risks infringing upon the federal government’s exclusive jurisdiction over air traffic safety and defence,” Dr. Weber explained. “Furthermore, the principle of proportionality, a cornerstone of German law, demands that the potential for collateral damage—say, a downed drone hitting a populated area—be weighed against the severity of the perceived threat. Drafting a blanket shoot-down authorisation is legally fraught. ” The political opposition in the Bavarian Landtag, particularly the Green Party and the Social Democrats (SPD), have been vocal in their criticism, calling the proposal a form of “security theatre. ” They argue that the focus should be on better surveillance, jamming technology, and enhanced federal-state cooperation, rather than adopting measures that they deem constitutionally questionable and potentially dangerous.
They instead advocate for increased investment in advanced counter-drone technology, such as signal disruptors or net-gun systems. The fallout from the Munich incident and the subsequent legislative push underlines a wider trend in German politics: Bavaria's continued role as a conservative political laboratory. Historically, positions adopted by the powerful CSU often filter through to the federal level, especially when the party forms a government with its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Consequently, this Bavarian debate is not isolated; it is being closely watched in Berlin as it could ultimately dictate how Germany as a whole tackles the evolving challenges of drone security and the protection of critical national infrastructure. Moving forward, the proposed Bavarian state legislation is expected to face intense scrutiny in the Landtag before any attempt to enact it. Should it pass at the state level, it is highly likely to be challenged in the Federal Constitutional Court, turning what began as a security incident into a crucial test case for the balance of power between Germany's state and federal governments in the 21st-century security environment. The long-term implications for police powers and civil liberties across Germany remain uncertain as this key feature of 'bayern-heute' unfolds.
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