The number of politically motivated incidents in Germany has doubled over the past ten years

In May last year, the Social -Democratic MEPTHIAS ECKE was attacked and beaten up by three teenage boys in the hanging of election posters in Dresden. Ecke was seriously injured. The boys also ran out later that evening a campaign employee of De Groenen.

The attacks in election time in Dresden were not incidents. According to figures that Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) presented on Tuesday, the number of politically motivated criminal offenses has risen to record high: a doubling in ten years.

The Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) recorded more than eighty thousand cases last year, of which more than half are motivated. Other backgrounds that distinguish the ministry include left-wing extremism and religious beliefs. The figures contain violence, but also the use of prohibited symbols or slogans, threat and vandalism.

Minister Dobrindt called right-wing extremism in Germany the greatest threat to democracy

The « extreme increase, » Dobrindt said, has to do with the place of several elections in 2024 and the polarized vote in the country. Dobrindt, who did not always shy away polarizing language in the past, called right-wing extremism in Germany the greatest threat to democracy. His two direct predecessors found the same. According to Dobrindt, new is the growing number of young people in right-wing extremist movements, which, for example, disrupted LGBTI street parties last year. The head of the Bundeskriminalamt, Holger Münch, found that young people are also more willing to use violence.

According to Dobrindt, the increased anti -Semitism in Germany also plays a role, and in particular the « imported anti -Semitism. » The figures show that half of the anti-Semitic criminal offenses come from the extreme right-wing angle, and about 30 percent stem from ‘foreign ideology’, in the terms of the ministry. This refers to, among other things, forbidden slogans in Germany that are used during pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Dobrindt wants more powers for the investigation services and harder penalties.

AFD

Apart from the figures from the Ministry, figures from the organization for victims of racist, anti -Semitic and Right Vrise (VBRG) were also presented. The organization also comes to the conclusion that violence from the right -hand corner last year increased sharply, and by 24 percent compared to 2023.

The organization partially blames that increase on the rise of Alternative Für Deutschland (AfD), the political party that was recently classified as ‘extreme right’ by the German domestic security service. « The AfD is responsible for the normalization of inciting language and violence, » said Judith Porath of the Victim Support in Brandenburg. According to Porath, victims often hear: « If the AfD is in power, you are gone here. »

Porath notes that among young people in East German states of extreme right-wing ideas and also the associated aesthetics are increasingly becoming the dominant youth culture, as was also shown in the nineties. According to Porath, the situation is now « more dangerous than at the time, because it has received a parliamentary arm with the AfD ». She therefore argues for a ban on the AfD.

Minister Dobrindt finds such a prohibition – which at most the Constitutional Court could decide after a long trial – is not a solution. He wants to « rule the parties on the flanks with good politics ».

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