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.
According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, espionage, Islamist terrorists and violent extremists from the right and left spectrum currently pose a major threat to security and democracy in Germany.
The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Thomas Haldenwang, admitted that he “doesn’t have much positive to report” about the security situation in Germany when presenting his agency’s current annual report. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) said: “We must actively defend our democracy.”
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 Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimates that 14,500 of a total of around 40,600 right-wing extremists are prepared to use violence (2022: 14,000 and 38,800 respectively). The intelligence service now estimates that the Heimat (formerly NPD) and Die Rechte parties have fewer members than a year ago.
New Right publisher now considered proven extremist
According to Haldenwang, Götz Kubitschek’s new right-wing Antaios publishing house has not been monitored as a suspected case since the beginning of June, but as a confirmed right-wing extremist effort. The higher the classification, the more intensive the use of intelligence resources, explains the BfV chief, adding, “everything is of course within the bounds of proportionality.” It is a publishing house that distributes publications with racist, nationalistic, and sometimes anti-Semitic, historical revisionist content.
New report on the AfD to be released soon
The AfD is currently being monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a suspected case. The Federal Office now estimates that 11,300 members of the AfD and its junior organization, Junge Alternative (JA), are 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 currents.”
The AfD says it has gained net members since 2022. It is still unclear when the Office for the Protection of the Constitution will report on a current report on the AfD, which is currently being prepared. “We don’t want to waste any time with it,” says Haldenwang. In any case, the Federal Office will first wait and see what the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court says in its written reasons for the judgment. On May 13, the court declared the Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s suspected case surveillance of the AfD to be legal in an appeal.
New suspected left-wing extremist case
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has reclassified the radical climate protection movement “Ende Gelände” as a suspected left-wing extremist case. This means that the domestic secret service can now also use intelligence means to assess the activities of this group, such as observation or obtaining information from informants (undercover agents) from the scene. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s report for 2023 speaks of an “intensification of forms of action, even to the point of sabotage”.
According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, policy papers from “Ende Gelände” also “clearly indicate a radicalization with regard to the group’s prevailing ideological positions.” In April, around 100 activists from the group blocked the Uniper Scholven coal-fired power plant in Gelsenkirchen.
According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, “Ende Gelände” is organized into 70 local groups. With the exception of Saarland, there are now branches in all federal states. When asked by a journalist what the suspected case classification means for contacts of the Green Youth and the Jusos, Faeser replied, “that I recommend that the youth organizations end their cooperation.”
Threat from Islamist terrorist organizations
The Islamist potential remains at a high level, at 27,200 people. According to the BfV, the greatest threat in this spectrum currently comes from the group Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISPK). The ISPK has its origins in Afghanistan, and according to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, its followers come mainly from Central Asia. The ISPK has managed to rally a large number of supporters and allies behind it, says Haldenwang. The group calls for “major attacks” to be carried out.
And he brought some more bad news: “The ISPK has also managed to bring followers to Western Europe, possibly via the wave of refugees from Ukraine, who are now staying here in various Western European countries.” The intelligence services of the affected states are, however, able to detect “major preparatory actions” such as the procurement of weapons.
Faeser refers to several arrests in recent months that have prevented possible attacks, as well as efforts by her ministry to deport Islamist threats back to Syria and Afghanistan. As far as Afghanistan is concerned, there are now contacts with the authorities in Uzbekistan. The same applies to Syria: “We are talking to neighboring countries,” says the minister, who will certainly have to answer many questions on this at the federal and state interior ministers’ conference in Potsdam this week.
In view of the current threat situation, an “active, hands-on interior minister” is needed, said the deputy chairwoman of the Union parliamentary group, Andrea Lindholz. The CDU politician called on Faeser to ban the Islamic Center Hamburg.
Haldenwang: Freedom of expression has limits
Although freedom of expression is highly valued in Germany, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution must also investigate activities that fall below the threshold of criminal law, says Haldenwang. As an example, he cites the recent rallies by Islamists in Hamburg, where the caliphate was praised as a desirable form of government.
An entire chapter of the more than 400-page report is entitled “Impact of the Middle East conflict and anti-Semitism.” Haldenwang describes the fact that the threat to Jews has grown as “unbearable.” Faeser stresses that the security authorities are “actively taking action against any kind of anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic agitation.”