The number of crimes with a political background rose to a new high last year. The Federal Criminal Police Office registered 60,028 offenses. The war in the Middle East in particular leaves its mark.
Since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th, there has been a massive increase in politically motivated crimes in connection with the Middle East conflict in Germany.
The number of crimes in this context known to the police last year was 4,369, more than seventy times the 61 crimes in the previous year, according to statistics on political crime published by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
A total of 1,927 of these acts are considered anti-Semitic, the vast majority of which were committed from October 7th onwards. The police classify more than half of the almost 4,400 crimes as “foreign ideology”. So she sees evidence that a non-religious ideology that came from abroad was crucial to the crime.
Faeser: The constitutional state does not tolerate violence
The number of politically motivated crimes known to the police reached 60,028 offenses in 2023, the highest level since the statistics were introduced in 2001, with a slight increase of less than 2 percent compared to the previous year. 3,561 cases involved acts of violence, almost 12 percent fewer than in 2022.
“We are seeing a new high in crimes that are directed against our open and free society,” said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser when presenting the statistics. “We must show unequivocally that the constitutional state will not tolerate this violence.”
It is now important to “protect the people in our country who have to experience racism, hatred of Jews, Islamist violence, right-wing extremism and left-wing extremism through hostility and threats,” said the SPD politician.
The biggest threat is this Right-wing extremism
With 28,945 crimes, right-wing extremist-motivated cases were once again counted, which corresponded to an increase of a good 23 percent compared to 2022. Last year, 714 people were injured due to right-wing extremist violence.
“In no other area is the number of victims so high,” said Faeser. Right-wing extremism is and remains the greatest threat to the free democratic basic order, emphasized the President of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) Holger Münch.
The number of left-wing extremist-motivated acts also increased. Here the investigators found an increase of 11.5 percent to 7,777 from 6,976 in 2022.
Munch: Escalation potential is big
However, the biggest increase was recorded in religiously motivated crimes: Here, the Federal Criminal Police Office recorded an increase of a good 203 percent to 1,458 crimes in 2023 compared to 481 in the previous year. The number of registered cases related to a foreign ideology rose by 33 percent to 5,170.
Acts of violence also increased significantly in both areas. BKA President Münch said that the “potential for escalation is great.” According to the report, this can also be seen in the anti-Semitic crimes, which reached a new high of 5,164 offenses (148 of which were violent).
BKA boss Münch said that 53 percent of the crimes recorded in 2023 were committed after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel at the beginning of October. “October 7, 2023 was a profound turning point for Jews, unfortunately also in Germany,” said Interior Minister Faeser.
More attacks on elected officials
The number of crimes against officials and volunteers also increased. Attacks targeting the “state” fell by a good 28 percent overall. Attacks on officials and elected officials increased by 29 percent compared to 2022. Faeser said that “a climate of violence” was being fomented, especially on the right-wing fringe.
She referred to the attack against the Saxon SPD MEP Mathias Ecke, who was beaten to the point of hospitalization in Dresden at the beginning of May while putting up election posters. Some of the alleged perpetrators are said to have connections to the right-wing extremist milieu.
2,488 crimes against asylum seekers
The number of crimes against refugees also increased “significantly” in 2023, as the report continues. The police registered a total of 2,488 crimes against asylum seekers, including 321 acts of violence. This corresponds to an overall increase of 75 percent, and in violent crimes it was 15 percent.
In addition, 179 crimes against asylum accommodation were registered, an increase of around 50 percent compared to the previous year. Almost 90 percent of these politically motivated crimes against asylum seekers or accommodation were recorded in the “right-wing” phenomenon area.