Enlarge image
Demonstration in Leipzig at the beginning of September: So far no “winter of anger”
Photo: Jan Woitas / dpa
A few months ago, Green Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke of possible "popular uprisings" in view of the gas crisis, and social psychologist Pia Lamberty explained that the situation was "ideal for right-wing extremist mobilization".
When right-wing extremists hoped for a cross front with leftists at a demonstration in Leipzig at the beginning of September, the "hot autumn" only got off to a lukewarm start.
And that's how it stayed from the point of view of the protection of the constitution.
The protests against high energy prices and the federal government's crisis policy have died down in the last few weeks of the year.
"I didn't see the bad scenarios of a 'hot autumn' or 'angry winter', as sketched by many, coming," said the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, of the German Press Agency.
In fact, "whatever protests are currently going on is more of a gentle breeze."
He added: "It blows mainly in Saxony and Thuringia."
But even there, the number of participants is declining.
In September and the first half of October, several thousand participants gathered for demonstrations, some of which also protested sanctions against Russia and arms deliveries to Ukraine.
Both the left and the AfD had called for a "hot autumn" in response to high energy and food prices.
This found the greatest response in eastern Germany.
According to the police, around 10,000 people took part in a rally advertised by the AfD in Berlin in October.
Right-wing groups: The issue of migration should be used for mobilization
However, it should be noted that the bourgeois milieu, which was still strongly represented in the Corona protests, is withdrawing more and more, said Haldenwang: "There is currently a mixture of right-wing extremists, such as representatives of the New Right, conspiracy theorists, 'Reich citizens ‹ and ›self-administrators‹, delegitimizers, but also parts of the state association of the AfD in Thuringia, which is classified as proven extremist, or right-wing extremist parties such as the Free Saxony.« There is hardly any demarcation of the individual groups from each other.
The link that connects all these groups is "the goal of overcoming this political system," said Haldenwang.
The themes used for mobilization are obviously "exchanged according to taste", depending on what is currently working.
"The issue of migration is currently gaining in importance," said the President of the Federal Office.
In the first eleven months of this year, around 190,000 people applied for asylum in Germany for the first time, an increase of around 43 percent compared to the same period last year.
Since around one million war refugees from Ukraine have been taken in since February 24 as a result of the Russian war of aggression, there are bottlenecks in accommodation in some municipalities.
»Last generation«: No evidence of »anti-constitutional endeavors«
According to the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the climate protests have not given rise to any observations by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
»If you look at Fridays For Future, it's definitely the largest movement in terms of numbers;
their protest actions are peaceful and move on the ground of legality,” said Haldenwang.
With a view to the actions of the »last generation«, he added: »The »last generation« is a small group that is now resorting to more drastic methods of protest.« The group is now also committing serious crimes, such as blockades at airports.
These would have to be pursued and punished by the police, public prosecutors and courts.
However, climate protection is a legitimate concern, emphasized Haldenwang.
He said: "Not only we, but also the state offices for the protection of the constitution do not currently see any sufficiently weighty actual indications of anti-constitutional efforts in the 'last generation'."
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution only comes into play when extremists radicalize or influence the protests, said Haldenwang.
As far as the "last generation" is concerned, he sees a certain danger "that there are left-wing extremist groups trying to infiltrate this movement".
ptz/dpa
