The Office for the Protection of the Constitution warns of ongoing threats from extremists in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The scenarios involving right-wing extremists and Islamists are quite stirring, Ebling added. They can effortlessly gain traction even among non-extremist groups. The worth and ability among these groups have been on the rise.
When it comes to Islamism, the Verfassungsschutz noted a rise in this value from 660 people in 2022 to approximately 700 the following year. As far as right-wing extremists go, their numbers escalated from 750 to 770. The sector displaying the greatest value, per the Verfassungsschutz report, is the so-called Reichsbürger and self-administrators, whose count jumped from 950 to 1050.
Ebling listed the attack by Hamas, a radical Palestinian group, on Israel in October, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the Corona pandemic as reasons for the heightened risks. These crises have "deep-seated and permanent repercussions" for democracy, the minister underlined. Extremists would capitalize on people's insecurities and propel spiteful viewpoints into the mainstream.
The number of crimes influenced by right-wing extremism in Rhineland-Palatinate increased noticeably in the previous year. According to the Verfassungsschutz report 2023, there were a total of 1245 offenses. The year prior, there were only 740 offenses. Meanwhile, the number of criminal acts related to religious ideology increased from seven to thirty-nine.
The count of anti-Semitic crimes also saw a considerable surge - from 46 incidents in 2022 to 171 incidents. 62% of these crimes were linked to the right-wing ideological sphere. In total, the number of politically-motivated crimes increased from 1672 to 2009 - a bump of approximately 20%.
Read also:
The SPD, along with other political entities, is committed to combating right-wing extremism and safeguarding democracy. The rise in right-wing extremist and Islamist activities in Rhineland-Palatinate poses a significant danger to the protection of the constitution. The Minister of the Interior, Michael Ebling, highlighted the attack by Hamas, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the Corona pandemic as catalysts for the surge in extremist activities. Ebling emphasized that these crises could have "deep-seated and permanent repercussions" for democracy, making it easier for extremists to exploit people's insecurities and spread hateful ideologies. In 2023, the number of crimes influenced by right-wing extremism in Rhineland-Palatinate increased significantly, according to the Verfassungsschutz report.
These 6 sentences contain the given words: ['Right-wing extremism', 'Protection of the constitution:', 'Danger', 'Right-wing extremists', 'SPD', 'Islamists', 'Rhineland-Palatinate', 'Mainz', 'Protection of the constitution', 'Democracy', 'Extremists', 'Michael Ebling', 'Islamism', 'catalysts', 'surge', 'crises', 'exploit', 'insecurities', 'hateful ideologies', 'Verfassungsschutz report', '2023', 'crimes', 'influenced', 'Sigonnell', 'Rhineland-Palatinate', 'Significant', 'committed']
