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Nancy Faeser (on October 12, 2023)

Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa

The attack on the Crocus City Hall near Moscow caused horror around the world. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser also expressed her condolences to the families of the victims. At the same time, however, she also highlighted the growing dangers posed by Russia's hybrid warfare. “We are actually experiencing a new dimension of threats from Russian aggression,” said the SPD politician to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. 

»We see attempts to exert influence through lies and massive disinformation. But espionage is also at least as active,” said Faeser.

At the same time, she accused the Kremlin of specifically promoting refugee movements to Western Europe: "Russia also wants to destabilize the West through migration." Finland is currently seeing this on its border with Russia.

The federal government will arm itself more strongly against Russia's influence in Western Europe in the coming months, the minister announced. Protecting the upcoming elections is particularly important. “We have to ensure that there are no hacker attacks on election authorities or on the transmission of election results.”

The European elections will take place in June, followed by state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in September. When it comes to protection, Faeser relies on the increased use of artificial intelligence against disinformation campaigns. A new early detection unit against fake news in the Interior Ministry should expose lies before they "become a big wave and flood the internet," said the SPD politician.

Clear words from the minister about the AfD

Faeser also accused the AfD of being close to Putin, which AfD leader Alice Weidel denied in an interview with the dpa news agency. "The AfD worships Putin and despises modern Germany," said the minister. The party has “largely radicalized from an anti-Euro party to an anti-Basic Law party.”

In addition, Faeser did not rule out proceedings to ban the AfD. »If a party wants to aggressively overcome the basic democratic order, it can be banned by the Federal Constitutional Court. If the radicalization of the AfD continues, that is an option that our constitution provides for," said the minister.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution observes the AfD party as a suspected right-wing extremist case, which was confirmed by the court in the first instance and is currently the subject of an appeal before the Münster Higher Administrative Court. In Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the respective AfD regional association as a confirmed right-wing extremist effort.

jok/dpa