The American New York Times said that right-wing extremists are united by a racist ideology that has been shored up by social media despite their lack of leadership, and they have created a network of direct and virtual international contacts that are causing official concern.
A lengthy report published by the newspaper, prepared by Catherine Penhold, director of the New York Times office in Berlin, and Michael Schwartz, the newspaper's correspondent from New York City, stated that the riots that were the scene of the US Congress building on January 6 revealed the extent of violence by right-wing extremists who have been exchanging for years. Ideological ideas inspire each other across the hidden worlds of the internet and on the margins of societies.
According to the New York Times, the followers of racist far-right movements around the world share many common issues, and German extremists have traveled to the United States to participate in shooting competitions, and members of the American right-wing neo-Nazi movement have visited some of their counterparts in Europe, and activists from those movements are involved. From different countries in training camps organized in Russia, Ukraine and South Africa.
And she said that intelligence officials - especially in Germany - are taking the threat posed by white extremist movements very seriously.
The German authorities took the initiative to tighten security measures around the parliament building in Berlin, immediately after the violence that targeted the Congress building in the United States, as far-right demonstrators in Germany tried on August 29 of last year to storm the German parliament while waving many flags and symbols used by it. Troublemakers in Washington.
US President Joe Biden has also ordered a comprehensive assessment of the threat that domestic violent right-wing extremism poses to US security.
Coordination and camps
Stefan Kramer, head of local intelligence in the eastern German state of Thuringia, believes that "right-wing extremists, skeptics about Corona and neo-Nazis are anxious," as they are attracted by a dangerous mixture of euphoria at what the congressmen have achieved, and frustration that what happened did not lead to the outbreak of civil war Or a coup for power.
A recent report commissioned by the German Foreign Ministry speaks of the emergence of "a violent, catastrophic, transnational extremist movement" over the past decade.
The report of the German Foreign Ministry indicates that these extremists are motivated by the same conspiracy theories and narratives that speak of "genocide of whites" and "the great replacement" or the substitution of immigrants for the European population.
They move in the same spaces online and also meet face-to-face at music festivals organized by the far right, martial arts events and far-right gatherings.
"The scenes of the neo-Nazis are closely related. We are not only talking about mutual admiration on Facebook, we are talking about the travels of the neo-Nazis, their meetings together and their joint celebrations," said Stefan Kramer, a German intelligence official.
The New York Times said that training camps set up by right-wing whites have become a headache for intelligence and law enforcement officials, who fear that these activities could lay the groundwork for more organized violence.
The Swedish authorities have arrested two white nationalists, who had participated in a paramilitary camp run by the extremist Russian imperial movement outside St. Petersburg, on charges of planning bombings targeting asylum seekers in Sweden, according to the newspaper.