Whether religious or political: extremism comes in different facets. All forms have increased in Germany. This emerges from the report for the protection of the constitution presented by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in Berlin on Tuesday.
According to this, a total of 33,476 politically motivated crimes with an extremist background were registered last year, compared to 32,924 the year before. Of these, 2,994 were acts of violence, 287 more than in the previous year.
“The greatest extremist threat to our democracy continues to be right-wing extremism,” explained Faeser. “Above all, we continue to see a high level of violence here.”
According to the report, the number of right-wing extremists has continued to grow. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution registered a total of around 33,900 sympathizers for 2021, compared to 33,300 in 2020.
The proportion of violent right-wing extremists rose to 13,500 from 13,300 in 2020. The potential of the so-called Reich citizens also increased to 21,000 people, around 1,000 more than in the previous year.
“This increase is mainly due to the protests against the government corona protection measures, which resulted in increased dynamism and activity in parts of this scene,” the report says.
According to the information, the left-wing extremist scene also grew to a potential of 34,700 people in 2021 after 34,300 in 2020. More than every fourth left-wing extremist is violent. Finally, the danger of Islamist extremists still exists.
“We are taking decisive action against the enemies of our democracy,” said Faeser. The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, stated that the report shows that “there are numerous threats to our democracy and security from very different areas”.
