Right-wing extremism is “the greatest threat” to Germany’s free basic order, says Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. That’s why she has now presented a plan to make the country more defensive against right-wing activities.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) wants to take action against right-wing extremism with an expanded package of measures. “We want to dismantle right-wing extremist networks, we want to deprive them of their income and we want to take away their weapons,” she said in Berlin. The aim must be to “turn over every stone when it comes to right-wing extremists” and to oppose them at all levels of the state.
13 measures against right-wing extremism
The Federal Minister of the Interior presented a catalog of 13 measures to combat right-wing extremism. This often ties in elements from the 2022 action plan against right-wing extremism. Faeser announced the plans after the Potsdam meeting between right-wing extremists and AfD politicians became known.
- New plans are for expanded powers for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution to uncover financial sources of right-wing extremist networks. By changing the law on the secret service, the risk potential should be sufficient in the future to take action up to the closure of accounts. To date, financial investigators have only been granted these powers when sedition and violence-oriented efforts come from organizations or networks.
- One element of the expanded package of measures is also better protection for the Federal Constitutional Court against anti-democratic forces. “When authoritarian forces attack democracy, the judiciary is often one of their first targets,” it says. Faeser therefore wants to write the organization and procedures of the court into the Basic Law.
- The Interior Minister also wants to consistently take weapons away from right-wing extremists. She refers to the gun law reform she presented a year ago. According to Faeser, membership in an organization that is listed as a suspected case by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution could lead to the revocation of the weapons license. She now called for the plans to be passed in parliament.
- In addition, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution should increasingly inform local police, regulatory and trade supervisory authorities about findings on right-wing extremists. The aim is to ban right-wing extremist events more consistently. The cross-border networking of right-wing extremists should also be more disrupted. Together with the state authorities, the entry and exit of right-wing extremists should be prevented as much as possible, said the Interior Minister.
- Further points in the package of measures include the expansion of the central reporting point for criminal content on the Internet at the Federal Criminal Police Office, strengthening the promotion of democracy and taking action against foreign disinformation. Officials and elected officials who are the target of hostility and attacks should also receive greater support. For this purpose, the establishment of a contact point was initiated in January, which will be set up in the coming months.
Source: Stern
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