More and more potentially dangerous individuals are joining extremist parties, particularly on the right. This problem is most significant with the political party Alternative für Deutschland. That is according to the German domestic intelligence service BfV in its annual report.
The Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) estimates that there are approximately 50,250 right-wing extremists in Germany, nearly 10,000 more than in 2023. Of that group, 15,300 individuals are believed to be willing to commit right-wing extremist violence, the report states.
These potentially dangerous individuals are also increasingly joining extremist parties, such as the ultranationalist neo-Nazi movement Die Heimat. But also Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). According to the BfV, the number of extremists in the ranks of that party increased by 77 percent last year to around twenty thousand.
According to the intelligence service, this is not only because AfD has simply become a larger party, but also because the party has shifted further to the right. The BfV classified AfD as extremist in early May. Certain branches of the party, such as the youth wing, had already been designated as right-wing extremist.
The number of crimes committed by people with a right-wing extremist background increased by 47 percent last year to 37,835. This included more than eleven hundred violent crimes and six attempted murders. According to the BfV, right-wing extremists are increasingly targeting the LGBTQIA+ community.
Also more violence from the left and ‘persistent’ threat of Islamism
Left-wing extremists also committed more crimes last year. The domestic intelligence service saw an increase of 37.9 percent to more than 5,800 cases. The number of violent crimes actually decreased to 532.
The BfV estimates that there are approximately 38,000 individuals with left-wing extremist sympathies in Germany. More than eleven thousand of them are said to be potentially dangerous.
The intelligence service also sees a “persistent” threat of Islamism. Such movements strive for a large political influence of Islam. More than 28,000 individuals are said to be pursuing this in Germany. More than 9,500 people would not shy away from violence in the process, the BfV states. Moreover, there are increasingly younger individuals who want to use violence for that purpose.
Due to the war in Gaza, there are risks for Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany, the BfV concludes.