Mysteriously, holes were found in the fences of an army base.

An alleged assassination attempt on Germany’s largest weapons manufacturer.

Wiretapping of a high-level conversation within the Air Force.

These are not plot lines from a 1960s spy novel, but real events in Germany that year.

Not all of these events can be clearly blamed on Moscow, but Berlin’s continued military support for Kyiv has put Germany on high alert for possible Russian acts of sabotage.

While a hot war rages between Russia and Ukraine, there are fears that Europe has slipped into a new Cold War.

“When we think of the Cold War, we tend to think of the 1970s, a time when the rules of the game were established and accepted,” says Mark Galeotti, senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) and director of Mayak Intelligence.

“In some ways, we are in the early phase of the Cold War – the 1950s and 1960s, a much rougher time.”

But what would a renewed Cold War look like for Europe’s largest economy, a country that was itself once divided in half by the Iron Curtain?

The biggest bombshell came just last month, when CNN reported that US authorities had informed Berlin of an alleged Russian plot to kill the CEO of Germany’s largest arms company, Rheinmetall.

The Kremlin denied the report, but German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who has acted as a warmonger alongside the more hesitant Chancellor Olaf Scholz, accused Russia of “waging a hybrid war of aggression.”

I met Rheinmetall’s CEO Armin Papperger in February at the laying of the foundation stone for a new ammunition factory.

The 61-year-old is, to put it bluntly, a real “somebody,” especially in a world where NATO countries are spending billions to supply Ukraine with supplies and strengthen their own security.

His prominent position became clear when he stood next to Chancellor Scholz, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen as they dug their spades into the ground in Lower Saxony.

If an assassination plot against him had been successful, it would have sent shock waves in the West.

A short time later, due to a security error, spies managed to eavesdrop on a highly sensitive conversation between high-ranking officers of the German Air Force, which was later broadcast on Russian television.

It was extremely embarrassing for Berlin that a brigadier general in the Air Force apparently gave spies access to the secure connection by dialling in via a non-secure line.

This mega-slip-up, as isolated as it was, fuelled accusations that Germany has long been a “weak link” in European counter-espionage, due to a fragmented, federalised system based on a strong emphasis on individual privacy.

Weeks later, two German-Russian citizens were arrested. They are suspected of planning acts of sabotage against US military facilities in Bavaria. Annalena Baerbock summoned the Russian ambassador to complain and announced: “We will not allow Putin to bring his terror to Germany.”

Just last week, holes were discovered in the fences of the water supply facilities at two military bases in North Rhine-Westphalia and there are fears that someone has tried to contaminate the water supply.

Germany is not the only European country that has been the target of apparent acts of sabotage. However, the country is home to numerous US military bases that were built after World War II.

Mark Galeotti believes that Moscow sees Germany as a large but “flabby” power, making it an ideal pressure point.

By anyone’s standards, the largest known act of sabotage to affect Germany in recent years was the blowing up of the Nord Stream gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea from Russia in 2022.

Since then, there has been much speculation about who ordered the attack. In a dramatic development, however, Germany has now issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diving instructor.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the operation was privately funded on a shoestring budget but monitored from Ukraine.

Kiev dismissed the report as nonsense. Although there has always been skepticism that President Putin would order the destruction of his own pipeline, the report shows that the opaque world of espionage can be full of twists and turns.

Every obvious incident of sabotage cannot be directly and definitely attributed to Russia.

In France, it was not Russian agents but far-left activists who were accused of carrying out an attack on the country’s high-speed rail network on the eve of the Olympic Games.

There is also a long history of left-wing militant attacks in Germany.

The fact that Ukrainian personalities are now in the spotlight in connection with the Nord Stream explosions has led to new criticism in Germany of the government’s support for Kyiv.

The co-chair of the far-right Alternative for Germany, Alice Weidel, called for the “aid payments” to Kyiv to be stopped and for the damage to Nord Stream to be “billed” to Ukraine.

The AfD enjoys much of its support in the former communist East, where beyond Berlin one is more likely to find a residual sympathy for Russia and dissatisfaction with the major parties that have dominated national politics since reunification.

While comparisons with the Cold War shape European security, the politics of that era in Germany have also been renewed in stark and unexpected ways.

To increase security, the German government is working on a new law to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructures.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser calls for “maximum protective measures in all areas”.

Operators of critical sectors such as energy, transport and water must comply with minimum safety standards under the Kritis Umbrella Act.

It is the first federal law of its kind in Germany, but despite the increased tensions in the wake of the war, it has still not been finally passed.

According to reports, German-made Marder armored vehicles are being used in Ukraine’s surprise operation on Russian territory.

This would be a further breach of a foreign policy taboo in Germany since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In addition, there are controversial plans by the USA to station long-range missiles in Germany from 2026.

When Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Chancellor Schoss promised a “turning point” in national defense and security policy.

But supporters and critics of the government are clear that it will take time to reverse years of underinvestment in defense – and also to change a mentality so deeply shaped by Germany’s dark past.

In view of recent developments, it is questionable how much time Berlin has left.

Mark Galeotti says it’s not just about rebuilding defenses, but also about improving cybersecurity and improving counterintelligence.

“Security planning takes years, not weeks or months.”