A package sent to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office contained explosives and, according to German officials, was linked to the mail bombing campaign in Greece.
Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said that the parcel had been mailed from Greece two days ago.
Mr de Maiziere said that the explosive device was built in the same way as the bomb that exploded at the Swiss embassy in Athens earlier today.
‘We are in very close contact with the Greek authorities. But there was no advance warning from Greece,’ Mr de Maiziere said, adding that the device ‘could have caused not insignificant damage’.
Chancellor Merkel was in Belgium on an official visit at the time of the security alert.
Mr de Maiziere said security at all German government mail rooms had been increased in light of the attempted explosive attack and ordered them to exercise particular caution with mail from Greece.
The package arrived at the chancellery addressed to Ms Merkel at about noon Irish time.
Parcel bombs exploded at the Russian and Swiss embassies in Athens and devices sent to three others were intercepted in the latest wave of attacks linked to left-wing extremists.
The packages were similar to four devices sent to embassies in the Greek capital and intercepted yesterday, including one addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Controlled explosions were carried out by police on suspect packages addressed to the German, Chilean and Bulgarian embassies.
Two other suspect packages detonated by police at the cargo terminal of Athens airport contained explosives and were addressed to Europol and the European Court of Justice.
'Both packages contained explosive devices, they've been detonated. One was destined to go to Europol and the other one to the European Court of Justice,' a Greek official told Reuters.
Two armed men have been arrested in connection to the attempted attacks which police say was likely carried out by a Greek 'anti-establishment' group.
During the Greek credit crisis in April, Chancellor Merkel pushed hard for Athens to adopt major austerity measures before any bail-out would be agreed. The subsequent budget cuts have proved deeply unpopular in Greece.
