Extremists on the rise: NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) sounded the alarm when presenting the new report for the protection of the constitution: The threat is higher than ever before.
Düsseldorf - According to NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU), the threat to democracy from extremists is “higher than ever”. “The creeping poison of right-wing extremism” is the greatest danger to democracy and violent Islamism is the greatest danger to human life, said Reul at the presentation of the new NRW constitutional protection report on Thursday in Düsseldorf. “2023 was not a good year for our free-democratic basic order.”
The number of political crimes fell by 15 percent to 7,600 in 2023. However, this is due to the end of the corona pandemic demonstrations and a corresponding sharp decline in violations of the Assembly Act.
Crimes have increased in the political areas of the right, left and foreign and religious ideology. Politically motivated acts of violence have increased by 37 percent. Anti-Semitic crimes have even increased by 65 percent to 550 crimes - especially since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th.
The anti-Semitism commissioner for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, announced that the number of anti-Semitic crimes was a new high. “That’s more than ten crimes per week, in North Rhine-Westphalia alone.” This does not include the drastically increased 690 anti-Israel crimes. When it comes to anti-Semitism, groups that seemingly contradict each other in their ideology could quickly agree on a common enemy.
A particularly broad alliance can be observed in Leverkusen, where well-known Islamists, right-wing extremists and pro-Russian activists have come together, reported Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Jürgen Kayser. However, this was not very well received by the respective followers.
“Islamism is on the rise again,” said Reul. Salafist networks were proselytizing again - on the Internet and on the streets. Hate preachers are increasingly active again. Well-known Islamists like Pierre Vogel are also there. “The noise floor has increased,” said Kayser.
“The Internet has become a playground for extremists and human trappers. It has never been easier to spread ideologies,” said Reul. The number of political crimes on the Internet has increased by over 70 percent. In view of the many underage suspects in recent times, parents are also called upon to take a closer look at their children's Internet consumption.
“Right-wing extremism is still active in the middle class,” said Reul. Right-wing extremists tried to exploit the protests of farmers or the Middle East conflict for their own purposes.” The case of a 13-year-old who sympathized with the right-wing extremist assassin Anders Breivik and prepared attacks is outstanding.
The number of right-wing extremist crimes increased by almost three percent to 3,550 in 2023 compared to the previous year. The number of left-wing extremist crimes increased by 33 percent to 1,100. The increase is due to the evacuation of the Lützerath settlement, in which 400 crimes from the left-wing spectrum were registered.
The greatest increase of 400 percent to a good 300 crimes was recorded in the area of religious ideology. This is directly due to the escalation of the Middle East conflict. In the area of foreign ideology, there was an increase of almost five percent to 830 crimes.
Secret services from Russia, China and Iran are the main players in espionage and cyber attacks. Disinformation campaigns are part of Russia's hybrid warfare. What is new is the recruitment of “inside perpetrators” to prepare sabotage operations, as has now become known in Bavaria. dpa