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Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser
Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa
The large-scale operation by the investigative authorities against a right-wing extremist terrorist network that was planning to overthrow the government has brought relief to numerous politicians.
According to SPIEGEL information, special police forces arrested 25 people early on Wednesday morning on behalf of the Federal Public Prosecutor and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and searched dozens of apartments, offices and storage rooms in eleven federal states.
A total of 3,000 officers were involved in the raids.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD)
spoke of an "abyss of terrorist threat" in connection with the major raid.
According to the current status of the investigation, the suspected terrorist organization uncovered today is driven by fantasies of violent overthrow and conspiracy ideologies," said Faeser.
According to the minister, only further investigations would provide a clear picture of how far the coup plans had progressed.
Faeser thanked the emergency services involved for their "dangerous use to protect our democracy".
The SPD in the Bundestag welcomed the massive action.
"Our democracy was, is and will remain defensive," said the
parliamentary director of the SPD parliamentary group, Katja Mast
, the dpa news agency.
Mast said there are "forces working every day to undermine our democracy."
The rule of law can and must defend itself against this.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann
described the raids as an "anti-terrorist operation".
"Democracy is defensive," wrote the minister on Twitter.
After the arrests and searches, his party colleague,
FDP parliamentary group leader Konstantin Kuhle,
urged even tougher action against extremist officials.
“Anyone who rejects or even wants to abolish the state order in Germany cannot be a civil servant.
Public service law must be tightened up quickly here," Kuhle wrote on Twitter.
»Our well-fortified democracy will stand against this disgusting brown soup!«
In the course of the investigation, several former soldiers of the Bundeswehr and an active staff sergeant who serves as a logistician at the Special Forces Command (KSK) are accused.
At least one suspended police officer was among those arrested on Wednesday.
(Read more about the deployment here.)
After the major raid, the
Greens domestic politician Konstantin von Notz
drew parallels to anti-constitutional tendencies in the USA.
"At the latest since the attack on the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021, we know very well that anti-democratic speeches can also be followed by the worst acts directed against democracy and parliament." To put a stop to plans to seize power and to smash a network of enemies of our democracy.« It is now important to stay alert.
After the raids, the
left-wing member of the Bundestag Bernd Riexinger
called for the Bundeswehr elite unit KSK to be disbanded.
"After today's raid at the latest, the KSK should be dissolved as a so-called elite unit of the Bundeswehr," Riexinger wrote on Twitter.
The terrorist network's plans to overthrow initially sounded "like a fantasy novel," according to Riexinger.
Since this morning, however, they have been “bitter reality”.
fek/ptz/mgb/dpa