Extremists exploit war and inflation
EAccording to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, xtremists of all stripes are increasingly trying to capitalize on the Ukraine war and its consequences. A “radicalized minority of right-wing extremists, delegitimizers, citizens of the Reich and believers in conspiracies” are positioning themselves, said the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution Thomas Haldenwang on Wednesday.
Haldenwang explained that topics such as the war, rising prices and the corona pandemic would be used and misused for mobilization. “To make matters worse, Russia uses instruments such as cyber attacks and disinformation as hybrid levers to divide society in Germany.” So far, however, there have been “no signs of widespread anti-state protests or even violent mass riots.”
By linking the various issues, the extremists tried to connect with mainstream society and mobilize them for their agenda, according to the analysis by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Enemy images that had already emerged during the peak phase of the corona pandemic could be adopted and transferred to other targets. The extent of the mobilization potential is “currently not well-founded predictable”.
According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, different strategies of the individual groups can be identified. right-wing extremists attributed the economic effects of the war to “an alleged incompetence on the part of the democratic parties” and presented price increases as a result of globalization. The growing problems in the everyday life of the population were instrumentalized in order “to undermine long-term trust in the state, government and democracy”.
The Federal Office is convinced that the actors from the phenomenon area “delegitimization of the state relevant to the protection of the constitution” are also trying to make the war and its effects a topic. “As in the course of the pandemic, the agitation of the scene against our democratic system is also embedded in conspiracy stories.”
In the left-wing extremist scene The anti-militarism field of action has gained in importance since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution explained. Defense companies in particular, but also the Bundeswehr and political parties are the focus of violent left-wing extremists. The first damage to property has already occurred, and blockades and acts of sabotage must be expected.
According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Russian actors are also trying to “stoke up fears of an energy or food shortage that could threaten the existence of Germany” with the targeted dissemination of false information about gas shortages and price increases. Russian propaganda is likely to increase in the extremist milieu “and fuel conspiracy narratives with the aim of driving a wedge into our society”.
