Radicalization
“Ende Gelände” is suspected of being extremist
The 2023 Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution report was published today. Photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, protests are becoming more radical on the fringes. At the same time, radicals are seeking and finding connections in the middle. An insight into the Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s report.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s report for 2023, which was published today, speaks of an “intensification of forms of action, even sabotage”. According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, policy papers from “Ende Gelände” also “clearly show a radicalization with regard to the group’s prevailing ideological positions”. In April, around 100 climate activists from the group blocked the Uniper Scholven hard coal power plant in Gelsenkirchen.
More people in the extremist spectrum
Overall, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution found an increase in both left-wing extremism and right-wing extremism last year. According to the report, the number of those classified as belonging to the left-wing extremist spectrum rose by around 500 people to around 37,000. Around 11,200 left-wing extremists were considered to be prepared to use violence last year. That was 3.7 percent more than the year before.
The development in the right-wing extremist spectrum was similar. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimated that 14,500 of a total of around 40,600 right-wing extremists were prepared to use violence. The intelligence service now estimates that the parties Heimat (formerly NPD) and Die Rechte have fewer members than they did a year ago.
The situation is different with the AfD, which the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is monitoring as a suspected case. The Federal Office now counts 11,300 members from the ranks of the AfD and its junior organization, Junge Alternative (JA), as being potentially right-wing extremist, with double memberships in the party and JA deducted.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s report for 2022 listed around 10,200 AfD and JA members. In order to assess the extremist potential within the AfD, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had relied on the election and voting results at the 2022 federal party conference in Riesa as well as on statements by party officials.
The current report states: “There continues to be a – albeit significantly decreasing – heterogeneity within the party, so that not all party members can be considered supporters of extremist movements.” The AfD says it has gained net members since 2022.