364 suspected right-wing extremists in security agencies
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) dealt with 739 cases within a period of one and a half years where there were indications of possible right-wing extremist attitudes and activities in security agencies. In approximately every second case (49%), real evidence for threats to the liberal democratic order was found, according to the Constitutional Protection in its current report on right-wing extremism in security agencies. The report covers the period from July 1, 2021, to December 31, 2022.
The most frequently detected extremist statements were found in social media or chats, politically motivated insults, and contacts with or memberships in extremist organizations and parties or their support. Few cases involved violent actions.
Of the 364 employees for whom there were concrete indications of violations against the liberal democratic order, 175 were employed at the Federal Security Agencies. According to the report, 189 cases fell under the responsibility of the state security agencies. However, the Federal Ministry of the Interior points out that both among the suspects and in cases where real evidence was found, more than half involved cases that had already been identified in the previous situation report.
The reason for this, according to the ministry, is the often long duration of disciplinary and labor law procedures. The reform of the Federal Disciplinary Code, which came into effect on April 1, 2023, could accelerate these procedures for the federal government.
"Considering there are over 384,000 employees in the federal government alone, these are only a few cases," emphasized Faeser. Nevertheless, it is important that these cases are closely monitored. Through the good cooperation between federal and state authorities, extremist matters have been discovered that were previously unknown to the Constitutional Protection Federation, reported BfV President Thomas Haldenwang.
Security authorities have been involved in investigating several cases involving right-wing extremist attitudes and activities among their employees. Despite the discovery of real evidence for threats to the liberal democratic order in over half of these cases, right-wing extremist employees still pose a concern within these authorities.
