Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday that the government was “working intensively” to identify who was behind the failed attack, which has not yet been attributed to anyone.
Berthon did not mention Russia in her remarks about Leipzig, but said earlier in her speech that “the hardening of Russia’s posture was a major element [of concern].”
“Since 2022, we have seen a dramatic and significant increase in acts of interference on our national territory,” she said, referencing high-profile symbolic assaults such as the spraying of Stars of David on buildings in Paris as well as disinformation campaigns run by Russia-affiliated networks.
“All of this is part of the onset of a war that is not a physical war, that is not a military war, that is not necessarily publicly acknowledged [as targeting] our soil, but already features attacks against our country,” Berthon said in her address at the Medef business lobby conference.