German lawmakers have approved sweeping new surveillance and covert-operation powers for the country’s spy agencies, significantly expanding the state’s ability to conduct espionage, sabotage and cyberattacks, amid warnings over the erosion of civil liberties and privacy protections.

Country's parliament, the Bundestag, voted on Friday to overhaul the powers of Germany’s foreign spy agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), and its domestic spy agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).

The government has defended the expansion on security grounds, claiming that Germany needs stronger intelligence capabilities to counter terrorism, extremism and foreign intelligence activities.

"Germany serves as an operational theatre for terrorism, extremism and foreign powers," Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who helped draft the legislation, told lawmakers.

Until now, Germany’s intelligence agencies have largely been restricted to gathering and analyzing information. The new law marks a major departure from that approach, granting them powers to carry out active operations, including in foreign countries.

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The expanded powers have raised concerns among civil liberties advocates, who warn that the legislation could weaken privacy protections and expose ordinary citizens to intrusive surveillance.

The concerns are particularly pronounced over the BfV, which monitors alleged threats to Germany’s constitutional order.

Dobrindt said the new legislation would transform the agency into "a genuine secret service," bringing its operational capabilities closer to those of intelligence services in other countries.

The expansion also revives concerns rooted in Germany’s history of state surveillance under the Nazi regime’s Gestapo and East Germany’s Stasi, whose extensive spying operations were used to suppress political dissent and violate basic rights.

Opposition lawmakers have warned that the new powers could undermine that separation and give the domestic intelligence service functions resembling those of a secret police. Critics across the political spectrum have raised concerns over the potential erosion of civil liberties.

A panel of former judges is expected to review the legislation’s provisions for their legal compliance before the new powers are implemented.