Strengthened extremists – Increasing potential for conflict between left-wing and right-wing extremists – News


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Left-wing extremists have mobilized hundreds in Bern, right-wing extremists are intensifying their propaganda – a dangerous dynamic.

Extremists have recently made headlines in Switzerland several times: last weekend, neo-Nazis marched in Zurich and protested against drag queens who held a reading lesson for children. And on Saturday evening, left-wing extremists in Bern mobilized around 1,500 people for an unauthorized rally.

The authorities warn that right-wing and left-wing extremists, who – after two years of apparent calm – are appearing more openly again: this harbors considerable potential for violence. This is what happened this weekend at an unauthorized demonstration in Bern. During the first so-called “anti-fascist evening walk” since 2015, there was graffiti, damage to property and violence against officials. This despite the fact that left-wing activists emphasized in advance that the rally would be more diverse and moderate than before.

Consternation at Bern’s police chief

Bern’s chief of police, Reto Nause, is dismayed: “The police have done a good job. Nevertheless, there was spraying and stones were thrown at the emergency services. In the end it wasn’t as moderate as it sounded in advance, »he says in an interview with SRF. Nobody was injured, the property damage amounts to several thousand francs.

Legend:

SRF

The left-wing extremist, sometimes violent scene has been active across Switzerland for years, as shown by federal figures: since 2015, the left-wing extremist incidents registered by the intelligence service have been around 200 per year. Part of it is violent acts. While there were 49 violent acts in 2015, this number rose to a maximum of 115 in 2019 and 81 in 2021.

Right-wing extremists are also becoming increasingly noticeable

Right-wing extremists are also more visible again: Mention should be made of the Junge Tat group, which disrupted an action by the drag queens. In front of the building, another part of this group lit torches. In a video published today that SRF found on a Telegram channel, two exponents say they wanted to criticize “gender ideology”.

It is striking that in the video, which was published on Sunday on a “Junge Tat” social media channel, two exponents can be seen without disguises and mention first names. This is new, so far most of the people in the videos were hooded or blurred. This celebrated self-confidence is probably intended to demonstrate strength – and also seems to send out the signal that there are no fears of prosecution or Antifa actions.

Compared to left-wing extremist events, the level of right-wing extremism is numerically significantly lower: in 2015 there were 28 incidents, twelve of which were violent; in 2021 there were 38 incidents, three of which were violent.

While it was relatively quiet in Bern during the Corona years around left- and right-wing extremist events, Security Director Reto Nause is not happy about the current developments: “We live in a multi-layered age of conflict. We have Corona, we have the Ukraine conflict, we have left-wing and right-wing extremist clashes – these are difficult times. We must follow these developments closely.”

Leftists, who are again able to mobilize hundreds of people, some of whom are violent, as on Saturday evening, and right-wing extremists, who are increasingly self-confident and provocative, are likely to fuel this tendency.

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