Agency chief says far-right terrorism and extremism are biggest danger to democracy

This article is more than 6 months old

This article is more than 6 months old

The chief of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency (BfV) has described far-right terrorism and extremism as the biggest danger facing democracy in Germany, as his agency put part of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) under formal surveillance.

The most radical rightwingers in the country numbered 32,000, said Thomas Haldenwang, adding that 13,000 of them were considered potentially violent.

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“Rightwing extremism and rightwing terrorism are currently the biggest danger for democracy in Germany,” he said at a press conference.

His agency has placed under formal surveillance the AfD’s most radical faction, Der Flügel (The Wing). While there are no formal membership lists, Der Flügel is estimated to have about 7,000 followers, making up a fifth of the AfD’s membership.

Its influence in the party, however, goes beyond that, with its radically nationalist demands helping to shape the AfD agenda.

Reclassifying the group will make it easier for Germany’s spy agency to authorise wiretaps or make targeted use of police informants. Founded in 2013 in opposition to eurozone bailouts for Greece, the AfD has grown and shifted further right over the last seven years, shedding several leaders along the way.

Railing against the decision in 2015 by the chancellor, Angela Merkel, to keep Germany’s borders open to refugees, the AfD has scooped up a significant number of votes from those unhappy with the government’s immigration policy.

It is currently the largest opposition group in the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament, and has significant presence in state parliaments, especially in the east.

Der Flügel was founded by the far-right firebrand Björn Höcke, an AfD politician in the eastern state of Thuringia who has provoked outrage with statements on Germany’s Nazi past.

Höcke has called Berlin’s Holocaust monument a “memorial of shame” and urged a “180-degree shift” in the country’s culture of remembrance.

Responding to a question at a press conference on Thursday, Haldenwang said his agency believed Höcke, using the pseudonym “Landolf Ladig”, wrote several articles for two magazines published by a militant neo-Nazi in 2011 to 2012.

As well as Höcke, Germany’s spy chief also singled out Andreas Kalbitz, the AfD’s leader in the eastern state of Brandenburg. Last year Kalbitz was revealed as one of 14 German neo-Nazis who had travelled to Athens in January 2007 for a rally organised by the Patriotic Alliance, a short-lived ultranationalist party formed by members of Golden Dawn.

Haldenwang said security officials believed Der Flügel violated “characteristic features of the free democratic basic order, human dignity, democracy and the rule of law”. Referring to Höcke and Kalbitz, he said: “Both people are rightwing extremists.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Björn Höcke, the founder of the most radical wing of the AfD.

Recent attacks in Germany meant it was more important than ever to monitor groups that might be inciting hatred, he said.

A gunman with racist beliefs killed nine people at a shisha bar in the city of Hanau in February, while two people were killed in an attack targeting a synagogue in Halle in October. In June, the pro-immigration politician Walter Lübcke was found dead at his home in the state of Hesse, with a far-right sympathiser confessing to the attack.

The AfD responded to Haldenwang’s announcement by describing it as an attempt to silence the party. “This is a politically motivated, anti-AfD, convoluted act,” said Jörg Meuthen, a spokesman for the party.

The party said in a statement: “The security agency has made a mistake with its allegations.”