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Germany's resurgent far-right
German authorities are warning about the rising risk of far-right terrorism following the targeted murder of a pro-immigrant politician.
Walter Luebcke, a prominent member of the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who led the regional government in the central city of Kassel, was found dead in the garden of his home on June 2. He died from a single gunshot to the head.
Yesterday, Horst Seehofer, Germany's interior minister, announced that a far-right extremist had confessed to the "political murder" after DNA traces linked him to the scene.
Stephan Ernst is well-known to police. He served time in prison for the attempted bombing of a refugee hostel in 1993, and later received a probationary sentence for breaching the peace during a neo-Nazi march. The 45-year-old reportedly told investigators that he targeted Luebcke after coming across pro-migrant and refugee comments that the politician had made during a 2015 town hall meeting. A video had been shared in several far-right forums.
Today, police arrested two more men in connection with the case, saying that they provided the .38-caliber pistol used to kill Luebcke. The men were allegedly aware of Ernst's politics, and the possibility that he would use the gun to murder a public figure, if not the specific victim.
Ernst says he acted alone, but authorities aren't sure if they believe him, given that he was said to be in contact with extreme-right political parties and the neo-Nazi group Combat 18 — an organization that the Canadian government yesterday added to its list of banned terror groups.
"We will continue to work hard to establish whether there were accessories or even accomplices. We owe that to the public," Seehofter said yesterday.
Germany's intelligence service, the BfV, published an annual report today estimating that there are now 24,100 right-wing extremists in Germany, 12,700 of whom are classified as "violence-oriented." Last year, the service catalogued 48 "extreme acts" of right-wing violence — 20 more than the year before — including six attempted murders.
Seehofer says that the risk of more attacks "is high."
And earlier this week, German prosecutors formally charged eight men who had been detained since October, accused of forming a far-right terror cell in the eastern city of Chemnitz. The men, aged between 21 and 31, were reportedly attempting to buy semi-automatic weapons with an eye to carrying out an attack in Berlin that they hoped to blame on left-wing groups, thereby buoying the fortunes of populist and anti-immigrant parties.
Chemnitz was the site of violent protests late last summer as right and left wing groups clashed in the wake of a fatal stabbing that police blamed on two refugees from Syria and Iraq.
Angela Merkel's government is vowing to devote more police and money to the fight against far-right extremism in Germany, with the chancellor saying that the battle must be waged "without any taboo."
But there's a political dimension at play as well as the Christian Democrats try to blunt the momentum of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which won 11 per cent of the vote in last month's European Parliament elections.
The AfD is most popular in the formerly Communist east,and recent polls put it ahead of the CDU in two of the three states that will hold elections this fall, raising fears that the party may soon have access to the levers of power.
Some Christian Democrats have accused the AfD of creating the conditions for Luebcke's murder by legitimizing hateful language and inciting violence. And the party isn't doing much to dispel that notion, with an AfD member of the Bavarian parliament pointed remaining seated this week as his colleagues rose for a moment of silence in memory of Luebcke.
And international concern is mounting too.
Last week, George Soros' Open Society Foundation announced that it plans to expand its operations in eastern Germany, linking up with local partners to fight the rise of hate crimes in the region.
And there are reports today that a German political delegation that is currently visiting Israel for a cybersecurity conference was disinvited to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum, and had a government welcome reception cancelled because of the presence of an AfD member.
However, there is plenty of opposition to the far-right within Germany.
Earlier this month, centrist and left wing party supporters banded together to stop the AfD from electing its first mayor in the eastern town of Görlitz, propelling a Romanian immigrant to victory instead.
And this past weekend, townsfolk in Ostritz, made sure that a far-right music festival was thoroughly unenjoyable, by conspiring to buy up all the beer at a local supermarket.
A court had already prohibited the sale of alcohol at the concert, and police confiscated more than 4,200 litres of beer from attendees.
Walter Luebcke, a prominent member of the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who led the regional government in the central city of Kassel, was found dead in the garden of his home on June 2. He died from a single gunshot to the head.
Yesterday, Horst Seehofer, Germany's interior minister, announced that a far-right extremist had confessed to the "political murder" after DNA traces linked him to the scene.
Stephan Ernst is well-known to police. He served time in prison for the attempted bombing of a refugee hostel in 1993, and later received a probationary sentence for breaching the peace during a neo-Nazi march. The 45-year-old reportedly told investigators that he targeted Luebcke after coming across pro-migrant and refugee comments that the politician had made during a 2015 town hall meeting. A video had been shared in several far-right forums.
Today, police arrested two more men in connection with the case, saying that they provided the .38-caliber pistol used to kill Luebcke. The men were allegedly aware of Ernst's politics, and the possibility that he would use the gun to murder a public figure, if not the specific victim.
Ernst says he acted alone, but authorities aren't sure if they believe him, given that he was said to be in contact with extreme-right political parties and the neo-Nazi group Combat 18 — an organization that the Canadian government yesterday added to its list of banned terror groups.
"We will continue to work hard to establish whether there were accessories or even accomplices. We owe that to the public," Seehofter said yesterday.
Germany's intelligence service, the BfV, published an annual report today estimating that there are now 24,100 right-wing extremists in Germany, 12,700 of whom are classified as "violence-oriented." Last year, the service catalogued 48 "extreme acts" of right-wing violence — 20 more than the year before — including six attempted murders.
Seehofer says that the risk of more attacks "is high."
And earlier this week, German prosecutors formally charged eight men who had been detained since October, accused of forming a far-right terror cell in the eastern city of Chemnitz. The men, aged between 21 and 31, were reportedly attempting to buy semi-automatic weapons with an eye to carrying out an attack in Berlin that they hoped to blame on left-wing groups, thereby buoying the fortunes of populist and anti-immigrant parties.
Chemnitz was the site of violent protests late last summer as right and left wing groups clashed in the wake of a fatal stabbing that police blamed on two refugees from Syria and Iraq.
Angela Merkel's government is vowing to devote more police and money to the fight against far-right extremism in Germany, with the chancellor saying that the battle must be waged "without any taboo."
But there's a political dimension at play as well as the Christian Democrats try to blunt the momentum of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which won 11 per cent of the vote in last month's European Parliament elections.
The AfD is most popular in the formerly Communist east,and recent polls put it ahead of the CDU in two of the three states that will hold elections this fall, raising fears that the party may soon have access to the levers of power.
Some Christian Democrats have accused the AfD of creating the conditions for Luebcke's murder by legitimizing hateful language and inciting violence. And the party isn't doing much to dispel that notion, with an AfD member of the Bavarian parliament pointed remaining seated this week as his colleagues rose for a moment of silence in memory of Luebcke.
And international concern is mounting too.
Last week, George Soros' Open Society Foundation announced that it plans to expand its operations in eastern Germany, linking up with local partners to fight the rise of hate crimes in the region.
And there are reports today that a German political delegation that is currently visiting Israel for a cybersecurity conference was disinvited to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum, and had a government welcome reception cancelled because of the presence of an AfD member.
However, there is plenty of opposition to the far-right within Germany.
Earlier this month, centrist and left wing party supporters banded together to stop the AfD from electing its first mayor in the eastern town of Görlitz, propelling a Romanian immigrant to victory instead.
And this past weekend, townsfolk in Ostritz, made sure that a far-right music festival was thoroughly unenjoyable, by conspiring to buy up all the beer at a local supermarket.
A court had already prohibited the sale of alcohol at the concert, and police confiscated more than 4,200 litres of beer from attendees.
