As of: 08.10.2021 2:03 p.m.
Members of the Bundeswehr guard battalion are being investigated on suspicion of right-wing extremist activities. The Ministry of Defense confirmed a corresponding media report.
The Federal Ministry of Defense is taking action against members of the Bundeswehr Guard Battalion on suspicion of right-wing extremism. This was announced by a ministry spokesman in Berlin and thus confirmed a corresponding report by the magazine “Der Spiegel “. The issue has not yet been fully clarified. The spokesman said that several dozen soldiers, mainly from ordinary service, were being investigated.
First suspect released from duties
A particularly conspicuous company had been “removed” from the battalion’s protocol service and the superiors would be released from their functions for the time being, said the ministry spokesman. The case is in a “right-wing extremist context”. In addition, it is about “rather abnormal drinking and reception rituals” and “sexual violence”. The current investigations were taken after “reports from the comrades”, the spokesman continued.
“Der Spiegel” reported on indications that a right-wing extremist group had formed within the guard battalion, which calls itself a “wolf pack”. According to witness statements, the leader of the group is said to have racially insulted other soldiers with foreign roots. In addition, a 32-year-old corporal corporal is said to have worn a T-shirt with a black sun and the inscription “Sonnenstudio 88”, the magazine continues. According to the statement, the words “We are brown” were emblazoned on the back. The number 88 is used in right-wing extremist circles as a cipher for the forbidden Hitler salute.
Defense Ministry condemns suspected cases
The reported incidents “deeply shame us all,” said the Defense Ministry spokesman. Such misconduct in the troops is “difficult to bear” for the soldiers. A military community is “always and particularly dependent on cohesion”. Anyone who expresses themselves extremist and misanthropic is attacking this solidarity community. The Bundeswehr will therefore “exhaust all legal possibilities” to “remove” the guilty from the troops.
The guard battalion with around 1000 members is actually the flagship of the Bundeswehr. It is responsible for protocol-related honorary services, for example on state visits and during tattooing, and it is also responsible for securing the offices of the federal government. In public, the battalion is “perceived by numerous appearances in the context of military honors as a representative of the federal government,” it says on the website of the Ministry of Defense.