The threat from German right-wing extremists is increasing

According to the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, there are just over thirty-two thousand right-wing extremists in Germany. This is a sharp increase since last year. One of the explanations is that the police decided that two groups that are close to the immigration-critical party Alternative for Germany (AFD) are right-wing extremists. But even the year before, the right-wing extremist groups grew significantly.

According to the chief of the Federal Police in Germany, more than 13,000 right-wing extremists are violent, but according to the police, only fifty are capable of perpetrating terrorist acts. However, there has been a significant increase since 2016 when there were about twenty people.

In 2019, several fatal attacks were also carried out with extreme right signs. In October, two people were shot to death outside a synagogue in the city of Halle. And in June, Christian Democratic politician Walter Lübcke was shot dead in his home in Kassel by a neo-Nazi. According to the perpetrator, the reason for the murder must have been that Lübcke was positive about immigration.

Last week, a raid was made against a newly started right-wing terrorist group in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to police, the group had far-reaching plans for attacks on both politicians and mosques. Something that frightened several Muslim communities who then asked for increased police protection.

German authorities, which in recent years have already been burdened by the work of monitoring radical Islamist groups, have on several occasions warned that the threat from the violent right-wing extremists has increased.

According to the German security police, the violent right-wing extremists have studied the methods of radical Islamists. Among other things, many have gone from being part of larger groups to working in small cells. Much of the recruitment, communication and propaganda dissemination also takes place via the Internet and encrypted chats, which makes police work more difficult and increases the risk of "lone wolves" striking.