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The German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has declared the fight against right-wing extremism to be her most important task and recently presented an action plan. Shortly thereafter, the police took action against right-wing extremist networks in several cities.
The German federal prosecutor carried out a superlative raid on April 6th. Hundreds of police officers were deployed across Germany against right-wing extremists from the violent scene and arrested some people. There has not been such a concerted action for years.
Corona increased the pressure to act
Germany would have just watched for too long, says the Amadeu Antonio Foundation (AAS). Timo Reinfrank, Managing Director of the anti-racism group, says it is high time: “I think the security authorities have not had the resources and there has also been a lack of political will.” He believes that the current federal minister has led to tougher action. The pressure was high recently because the pandemic made the right-wing extremist scene visible. Since the many refugees, an anti-democratic dimension has been added to racism.
Reinfrank welcomes the raid, but points to another problem: “After the murder by a right-wing extremist of CDU government president Walter Lübke in Kassel, a lot was publicly promised. But not enough happened after that. At the federal level, laws are being tightened. But that is not implemented at the municipal level.”
Alarming right-wing extremism in the police force
The fight against right-wing extremism is one of the central topics of Green MP Irene Mihalic. She used to be a police officer herself and was a member of various investigative committees investigating right-wing extremist crimes. Right-wing extremists in security agencies are a particular problem.
These people are well trained, have good access to information and are proficient with weapons. “If we then add a right-wing extremist attitude to these special skills, it’s a toxic mixture. That’s alarming and you have to be very worried that things will happen that we don’t all like,” says Mihalic.
Therefore, this phenomenon must be taken very seriously. And of course not only a clear speech is needed, but also the possibility of removing such people from the service, says the Green MP and adds: “But you have to recognize them first.”
The knowledge is there, but the authorities lack it
“Where I would actually like to see more action from the Federal Minister of the Interior, the analysis skills in the security authorities should be improved,” says Irene Mihalic. She criticizes: “Especially in the case of right-wing terrorism, we often have to do with the statement that these are isolated cases or lone perpetrators who are not integrated into any structural networks.”
The ex-police officer notes: “We cannot agree to that because science gives us different results.” In addition, all measures are useless without prevention, according to Irene Mihalic. You can’t just rely on law and order: “If you tell Nazis you can’t be Nazis anymore, then they won’t do it on their own.”
“Broad-based measures are needed to really prevent young people, for example, from turning to right-wing extremism or groups working with disinformation and trying to divide society,” says Mihalic. “Far too little has simply been done in the past.” It takes a lot of staying power, but progress is being made. That makes her confident.