- in attack planning in the UK. However, it is a realistic possibility that international elements of the groups are involved in violent activity.[1]
ERWT activity in Germany
110. A series of ERWT attacks in Germany in recent years point to a growing crisis: ERWT has moved from a conceptual threat to a clear and present danger. The German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) reported on 10 February 2020 that, according to Germany's domestic security service, there were "some 12,700 far-right extremists 'oriented towards violence".[2] The Right-Wing Extremist scene in Germany is composed of neo-Nazi elements, Komradschaften (comradeships), loose networks of Right-Wing Extremists from different sub-cultures and the so-called 'intellectual right'.[3] Germany's domestic intelligence agency (the BfV) has stated that the most radical Right-Wing Extremists in the country number 32,000 and that 13,000 of these are considered potentially violent.[4]
111. In November 2020, it was reported that the German authorities had charged 12 alleged members of an ERWT cell with terror offences, including planning attacks on politicians, asylum-seekers and Muslims—it is notable that these individuals had apparently set up their own ERWT movement in order to carry out these attacks.[5]
112. Germany's security services categorise crimes committed by Right-Wing Extremists as "politically motivated right-wing crime".[6] This includes violence perpetrated against foreigners, Jews, Muslims, political opponents or representatives of the state. The authorities collect data pertaining to the victims of Far-Right violence in the country[7]—as at 20 February 2020 the official death toll was 94, although critics accuse the authorities of not always categorising crimes as politically motivated, but instead attributing them to personal revenge or being motivated by other circumstances.
- ↑ ***
- ↑ 'Right-wing terror in Germany: a timeline', Deutsche Welle, 20 February 2020.
- ↑ Europol, 'Right-wing terrorism', European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2019.
- ↑ 'German spy agency puts part of far-right AfD under surveillance', The Guardian, 12 March 2020.
- ↑ 'Germany charges 12 in far-right terror plot', Deutsche Welle, 12 November 2020.
- ↑ 'Right-wing terror in Germany: a timeline', Deutsche Welle, 20 February 2020.
- ↑ This data has been collected since the reunification of Germany in 1990.
42
