The Federal Minister of the Interior and Homeland, Nancy Faeser, together with the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution ( BfV ), Thomas Haldenwang, presented the report for the protection of the Constitution for 2021 at the federal press conference in Berlin today.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser : “We are taking decisive action against the enemies of our democracy. Right-wing extremism remains the greatest extremist threat to our democracy. Above all, we continue to see a high level of violence here. My plan of action provides for clear measures: We must stop radicalization, smash right-wing extremist networks and consistently disarm extremists. Here we have had important investigative successes in the last few weeks.
There is also a high level of radicalization in violent left-wing extremism. We still need very consistent and early intervention against left-wing extremist violence. Likewise, our security authorities remain very vigilant against the threat of Islamist terrorism and take action where necessary. The risk potential remains high.
The increasingly complex intelligence activities of other states pose a serious threat. With the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the threat situation has taken on a new dimension. We are keeping a very close eye on that. We defend internal security and internal peace in Germany against Russian espionage, attempts to exert influence, lies and war propaganda. Putin’s lies don’t catch on in Germany.”
BfV President Thomas Haldenwang: “The report for the protection of the constitution shows that there are numerous threats from very different areas for our democracy and the security of the population. The number of people has risen again in almost all extremist phenomena. Enemies of the constitution are very heterogeneous: on the one hand we see those united by their rejection of the state, on the other hand we observe self-radicalized perpetrators acting individually and digital extremism on the internet. What is striking is the spread of disinformation that can be found in almost every area of phenomena. It is a task for society as a whole to neutralize this through corrections and enlightenment. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is working flat out to counter all of these developments.”
A total of 33,476 politically motivated crimes with an extremist background were reported for 2021 (2020: 32,924). Of these, 2,994 (2020: 2,707) were acts of violence.
In right- wing extremism , the number of people has continued to grow and is now 33,900 (2020: 33,300). The proportion of violent right-wing extremists has also risen again to 13,500 (2020: 13,300).
The goal of right-wing extremists in 2021 remained the ability to connect to bourgeois-democratic circles. For example, they exploited the protests against the state corona protection measures or the flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia or Rhineland-Palatinate.
The spread of anti-Semitic and conspiracy ideological narratives increased in the course of the corona pandemic. The right-wing extremist scene continues to network and radicalize itself on the Internet.
The potential of the “Reichsbürger” and “Selbstverwalter” has increased again compared to the previous year by 1,000 people to a total of 21,000. This increase is mainly due to the protests against the state corona protection measures, which resulted in increased dynamism and activity in parts of this scene. By the end of 2021, at least 1,050 “Reichsbürger and Selbstverwalter” had had their gun licenses revoked. Nevertheless, there is still a high potential for violence and danger from gun ownership.
In April 2021, the BfV set up the new phenomenon area ” delegitimization of the state relevant to the protection of the constitution” . The actors in this field of phenomena aim to invalidate essential constitutional principles or to significantly impair the functioning of the state or its institutions. To this end, they purposefully disparage the democratic system and its officials. Phenomenologists aim to radicalize and mobilize sections of the population to advance their own agenda. Even beyond the corona pandemic, crisis situations are used to delegitimize the state.
The number of left-wing extremists rose to a total of 34,700 in 2021 (2020: 34,300). More than every fourth left-wing extremist can be classified as violent. Left-wing extremists reacted extremely aggressively to the clearing of scene objects and committed a large number of criminal and violent crimes.
Compared to the previous year, there is a slightly reduced number of people in the field of Islamism/Islamic terrorism of 28,290 (2020: 28,715). Nevertheless, the danger from Islamist terrorism in Germany continues unabated. The threat in Germany and Europe continues to come primarily from jihadist-inspired or instructed individual perpetrators as well as small groups with simple and easily obtainable means of action.
The number of people involved in extremism related to foreign countries totaled 28,650 people in 2021 and thus remained unchanged compared to the previous year.
The main actors in espionage directed against Germany , in intelligence-led cyber attacks, in proliferation and influencing are the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkey, each with a different focus. Above all, Russia exerts influence, in particular through disinformation. The scale of political espionage and influence activities by China has also increased significantly.
