Hundreds of thousands have been taking to the streets for weeks to oppose right-wing extremism and attacks on democratic institutions. Now politicians also want to set an example and show more determination. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) presented a further package of measures against right-wing extremism in Berlin on Tuesday, together with Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Thomas Haldenwang and BKA chief Holger Münch. “We want to use all the instruments of the rule of law to protect our democracy,” announced Faeser. It’s about dismantling right-wing extremist networks, depriving them of their income and taking away their weapons, said Faeser. Politics must better defend the open society against its enemies.
The initiative from the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the security authorities aims, on the one hand, to treat extremists on the far right in a similar way to criminal clans or organized crime groups. This also includes cutting off their flow of financial resources and giving the Office for the Protection of the Constitution greater powers in financial investigations. On the other hand, Faeser also wants to ensure that important democratic institutions such as the Federal Constitutional Court are strengthened and more resilient to crises.
There has been no shortage of plans to combat threats from the right in Berlin. An 89-point plan against racism and right-wing extremism was adopted in November 2020 under the government of Angela Merkel (CDU). Among other things, it envisaged strengthening political education and prevention programs. Shortly after taking office, Federal Interior Minister Faeser followed up, albeit initially only with paper. She announced an “action plan” against right-wing extremism. This also included tightening gun laws. Accordingly, membership in an organization that is listed as a suspected case by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution should lead to the revocation of the weapon license. Semi-automatic weapons similar to military weapons should be completely banned for private individuals.
However, the law still does not exist today; Faeser failed due to resistance from the FDP. The planned Democracy Promotion Act, which is intended to put civil society initiatives against extremism on a more solid financial basis, is still stuck in the parliamentary process in the Bundestag. With her package of measures, which was presented on Tuesday, Faeser now wants to give such projects new urgency. The tightening of gun laws is a “crucial component in disarming extremists,” says her ministry’s paper. But new projects have also been added.
The independence of the Federal Constitutional Court should be secured
According to the plans of the Interior Ministry and the security authorities, the Basic Law should become more crisis-proof and the processes of the Constitutional Court should also be better protected. It is necessary to “secure the independence of the Federal Constitutional Court more strongly against the influence of anti-democratic forces,” says the plan. It makes sense to include the central regulations on “organization and procedures in the Basic Law”.
The authorities should also cooperate more strongly than before against right-wing extremists. It goes on to say that state authorities at all levels must show the limits to extremists. In the future, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution should increasingly use its options to pass on findings to local authorities on site, such as the police, public order offices or the trade and restaurant supervision. For example, right-wing extremist events could be banned, it goes on to say.
The Interior Ministry is also working with the responsible state authorities to prevent international right-wing extremists from entering and leaving the country. A new “early detection unit of the federal government” is supposed to detect and stop international influence and disinformation. The Ministry of the Interior is currently setting up this unit. The authorities fear that manipulated messages using new technology could have an ever greater impact and want to take countermeasures. “This is how autocratic states use fake accounts to create artificial reach or invent stories using AI-based images,” the paper says. In this way they tried to manipulate the free formation of opinions in other societies.
According to Faeser’s ideas, it should also be easier for authorities to investigate and drain financial flows from right-wing extremists in the future. A separate legislative proposal that would lower the hurdles in such cases when the Office for the Protection of the Constitution requests information about accounts and financial transactions is currently being prepared in the Federal Ministry of the Interior. In response to a recently announced meeting of right-wing extremists and AfD officials in Potsdam, Interior Minister Faeser declared that “the personal and financial connections in right-wing extremist networks must be examined more closely,” her ministry recently said. So far, investigations have been limited to cases involving incitement to hatred and violence. The Federal Constitutional Protection Act is now to be changed so that the potential threat will be taken into account in the future.