Hundreds of far-right extremists have infiltrated German police system: Report

​​​​​​​By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Hundreds of far-right extremists have infiltrated Germany’s police apparatus amid mounting political concerns, according to a report published Thursday by the Hamburg-based news magazine, Stern, and private broadcaster, RTL.

Disciplinary proceedings or investigations are being conducted against at least 400 officers in federal states on suspicion of having right-wing extremist views or conspiracy ideology. The nationwide investigation is being carried out in the 16 interior ministries of the federal states.

The number is likely to be significantly higher, as four federal states -- Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Bremen and Thuringia -- were unable to provide current figures.

"Police officers who do not stand on the basis of the Constitution but instead pursue extremist views are a great danger to democracy and the rule of law,” North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul told Stern/RTL about the report. “I don't want to have these people in the police."

Federal Police Commissioner Uli Groetsch warned of far-right attempts to destabilize the police force.

"We live in times in which right-wing extremists are deliberately trying to destabilize the police," he said at parliament, or Bundestag. "The danger is greater than ever before. For the entire country. And therefore also for the police."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-leftist coalition government announced a new plan in February to combat racism and vowed legal steps to quickly dismiss right-wing extremists from police, armed forces and public service.

In recent years, right-wing extremism has become alarmingly prevalent in the German armed forces, especially within the anti-terror KSK special forces.

The situation poses a considerable challenge for politicians because if right-wing extremist incidents continue to mount, public trust in the military and police will be tarnished.