Germany views far-right extremism top danger to democracy: Interior minister

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned Tuesday that far-right extremism remained the biggest danger to democracy in Germany.

“Right-wing extremism remains a continuing challenge as it is the greatest extremist threat to the basic democratic order,” Faeser said as she presented an annual report on extremism in Germany to reporters in Berlin.

"In 2022, the number of crimes with a right-wing extremist background rose by 3.8% to around 21,000. In addition, the potential right-wing extremist willing to use violence has risen again by 500 to more than 14,000. We must never underestimate the deadly danger of right-wing extremism and right-wing terrorism,” she said.

The report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution said the number of people assigned to the right-wing extremist spectrum rose 14.5% to 38,800, compared to the previous year.

One of the reasons for the sharp increase is that the agency now includes members of the far right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD). It is being observed as a suspected case.

Germany has been rocked by a series of deadly far-right killings in recent years. Among them is the murder of a regional politician by a suspected neo-Nazi; an attack on a synagogue in the east German city of Halle and the fatal shooting of nine people with migrant backgrounds in the south German city of Hanau.