Russia Increases Spy Activity, Disinformation Campaign in Germany
Last year, the BfV classified the entire AfD as a “suspected case,” meaning it would bring stricter surveillance measures against the party. The AfD is currently challenging the BfV in court over the decision.
Though the BfV does not typically comment on political issues, Haldenwang was moved to do so on Tuesday. “We see significant currents within the party that oppose the free democratic basic order — what does that mean?” he told reporters at a press conference in Berlin.
“Maybe voters should look at that. It means that these parts of the AfD spread hatred and agitation against all kinds of minorities here in Germany, especially migrants, and parts of the AfD also spread antisemitic positions.”
He also said that parts of the AfD were “very strongly influenced by Moscow.”
Left-Wing Extremism
Though Faeser and Haldenwang underlined that the far-right still presented the biggest threat to German democracy, the BfV also recorded an increase in the number of left-wing extremists in Germany. The agency counted a total of 36,500 extremists last year, up from 34,700 in 2021, more than a quarter of whom were considered potentially violent.
Nevertheless, Haldenwang said that the agency does have an eye on “small, clandestine groups that especially attack far-right extremists. But should also be concerned that they also see the state apparatus as an enemy, including brutal violence against police forces.” He pointed out that a bottle containing flammable, explosive liquid was thrown during recent far-left protests in Leipzig, and that state prosecutors were treating this as attempted murder.
One group that was not mentioned at all in the 380-page report was the Last Generation, the radical climate protest group that had been carrying out increasingly disruptive actions in public in the past few months. Despite the fact that the German police conducted nationwide raids against the group, detaining several members before they could carry out interventions, Haldenwang said that the BfV did not consider it an extremist group.
“We see a very heterogenous picture in the movement of climate activists,” Haldenwang said. “En masse, we have people who campaign for more climate protection, who use their basic right to protest, which is under the protection of the constitution. On the other side, we have small groups that clearly act in an extremist way. The Last Generation moves somewhere in this range.” He also said that though some left-wing extremist groups may try to infiltrate the climate movement, this was not currently the case.
Ben Knight is a DW reporter. Andrea Grunau reports from Bavaria for DW. This article, which was edited by Rina Goldenberg, is published courtesy of Deutsche Welle (DW).
