Management of the Bundestag: Measures against internal extremism

Bundestag President Schäuble and the Council of Elders want, according to information from ARD capital studios prevent in-house right-wing extremism. Police officers of the parliament are said to have expressed themselves accordingly.

With several measures at the same time, extremist tendencies are to be recognized more quickly in the Bundestag and better combated. A spokesman for the Bundestag said that ARD capital studioA contact person will be appointed in the Bundestag administration, who will in future be able to inform employees confidentially and unbureaucratically about extremist and similar incidents.

In addition, mandatory prevention training for the police and other areas of the Bundestag administration is planned. Early detection and how to deal with extremist tendencies should be better trained. Together with the staff council, the existing agreement on cooperative behavior in the workplace will also be expanded. Statements, behaviors and symbols that are xenophobic, extremist, anti-Semitic or otherwise inhumane will not be tolerated, the spokesman said.

The Bundestag administration is also in exchange with the State of Berlin and the Federal Police. It is about experiences in preventing extremism and how we can work together in the future to avoid and pursue extremist endeavors.

“Any prejudice is out of place”

In just a few days, Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble also wants to speak to police officers of all ranks of the Bundestag police. Schäuble informed him in writing ARD capital studio with: Every indication of misconduct by the Bundestag staff will be investigated. But “a prejudgment of our policemen and women who ensure the security of our parliament is out of place”. Suspicions that were previously unknown are being investigated “clearly and consistently”. Corresponding investigations were still ongoing. As things stand, none of the allegations have proven to be tenable.

The “taz” reported last week that several officials from the in-house federal police force had allegedly made right-wing extremist statements or acted unconstitutionally. For example, a policeman is said to have shown the Hitler salute several times in a break room, while another was involved in a party of the Reich citizenship. Another police officer is said to have called for demonstrations of the so-called lateral thinking movement and in August 2020 also took part in the demonstration from which participants tried to storm the Reichstag.

Trouble about information policy

Jan Korte, parliamentary managing director of the Left Bundestag faction, is annoyed that the Bundestag administration and the Presidium did not inform the Bundestag factions earlier about the alleged right-wing extremist incidents involving the Bundestag police. The administration had been aware of the topic since May at the latest, but the parliamentary managing directors and security officers were informed on June 21. It must be clarified why the groups were informed so late.

Ute Vogt, domestic policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, only found out about the alleged right-wing extremist incidents in the Bundestag police from the newspaper. She says it is “absurd that the Interior Committee is passed over here”.

The Interior Committee is not directly responsible for the Bundestag police, says Vogt, but the committee regularly deals with specific security issues. It now needs to be clarified whether the reported incidents are just the tip of the iceberg and what is being done to avoid such cases. There are still many questions unanswered.