- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has reported a surge in leftwing extremism, in response to the resurgent far right and Israel’s actions in the Middle East.
Violent crimes motivated by leftwing ideological beliefs include attempted murder, assaults, sabotage and arson attacks and rose 60 per cent in 2025, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said on Tuesday.
“Leftwing extremism is on the rise again in Germany and poses a threat to public safety and order,” said interior minister Alexander Dobrindt at a news conference presenting the intelligence agency’s annual report.
He added that the phenomenon was largely a reaction to the already widespread problem of rightwing extremism in Germany, warning of a radicalising dynamic developing between the two.
“For both groups — leftwing extremists and rightwing extremists alike — we can see here that the potential for violence is rising significantly,” Dobrindt said.
…
An electricity substation in Berlin was destroyed by the leftwing terrorist Vulkangruppe in January, leaving some 100,000 residents without power in freezing conditions for several days. Authorities were surprised by the attack and have struggled to trace the origins of the group or its membership.
Leftwing terrorism plays a dark role in postwar German history: during the 1970s and 1980s the Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang, conducted a campaign of robberies and bombings. They assassinated US soldiers, German diplomats and the CEO of Deutsche Bank as well as many ordinary West German citizens.
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The BfV is now tracking multiple extremist leftwing organisations, many of which profess violence as a political tool and are mostly underground.
“We’re dealing here with highly secretive structures . . . which, at times, also operate very professionally,” said BfV president Sinan Selen.
German intelligence and law enforcement services were working hard to penetrate the organisations, he said. “Various security agencies are very active in this area, and we’ll see what the coming months bring in this respect.”
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Under Selen, the agency has also sought to have the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) — which now polls as the country’s largest political party — classified as a rightwing extremist organisation.
The determination was struck down by a German court in February but is still under review.
“My personal assessment is that the AfD is an extremist party,” Dobrindt said on Tuesday. His agency’s goal was to continue to scrutinise the party and its membership, he said.
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Right-wing morons loudly screaming about all those (mostly imaginary) left extremists (read a few anonymous letters claiming responsibility by “left-wing” groups nobody knows anything about but the name, and with statistics well inflated by claiming every protester (no matter the topic) resisting police brutality is some left-winf extremist) while far-right violence is actually on the rise.
Where have I seen that playbook before? Oh, right… everywhere right-wing populist liars get any power because they all have only exactly one playbook and the end game is always fascism.
Bullshit
According to Lemmy ratings:
- right-wing terrorism = bad
- left-wing terrorism = good
Very telling to see how many accounts in this instance justify violence against innocent people. I was aware already about the mindset here from the way this comm is moderated, but this is a new low. The saddest thing is that feddit. org is hosted by an foundation in Austria, an EU member. It should be a matter of course to comply with democratic values and the rule of law, but I don’t see this here.
Edit: feddit .org isn’t the only instance here with such a spin, unfortunately.
It’s rather telling that you conflate explanations how this article and Minister Dobrindt misinterpret and misrepresent the numbers as well as explanations how the supposed “left wing terror attacks” are all but secured left wing terror attacks with justifying violence.
I also find it very telling that you conflate these discussions with antidemocratic behaviour.
If someone deliberately sabotages a railway or destroys an electricity station then I call this out. The reason for such sabotage doesn’t make a difference to the 100,000 innocent citizens who are left without power, and it doesn’t help the environment nor anything or anyone else. It’s just unnecessary, useless violence that achieved absolutely nothing except harm. This is criminal and undemocratic behaviour.
And again you are missing the point.
We don’t know who is responsible. All we have is a lettwr claiming responsibility posted on a website where anyone can post anything anonymously. That is all but proof.
Ah yes, “left wing crimes” has risen. But did you know that these “violent crimes” include the kntamces if “wiederstand gegen vollstreckungsbeamte”? Which rougly translates to resistance against cops. And have you been to a portest in germany lately? Especially the ones for Gaza get the cops so riled up they love to aggress them without a cause or need, just just brutal.police voilence. Which leads to the people trying to defend themselfs, which is a horrible horrible crime, right? And hould be treated the same way the rightwings murder (atrempts) are treates right?
By the way, I don’t know if that’s what a normal German protest looks like. I mean I’ve seen the news as well, it’s definitely a thing. But we’ve also had protests in my city and they didn’t look anything like that. No violence or vandalism from the protesters, and no police brutality or chasing people either. Just saying your mileage may vary, depending on where you live.
As usual, what you see in the media are the outliers. The vast majority of protests are peace- and uneventful. Of course tension rises, the more political stances diverge. I.e. one of the most recent cases was the yearly party meeting of the AFD, Germany’s fascists party. It certainly added to this so-called “rise of left wing terrorism” as many people blockaded highway exits to prevent party members from traveling to the venue.
Yes, there is the “Schwarze Block”, the loosely organized groups of aggressive protester wearing all black. These are the people Trump and others point to when they talk about “Antifa” or “left wing terrorism”. The general rule of thumb is, though: When left-wingers riot things burn. When right-wingers riot people die.
(Same [biased] agency; blue right, left red)Alexander Dobrindt is a corrupt asshole who undermines democracy. Don’t believe a word he says.
An electricity substation […]
Wasn’t that all alleged and suspected? And in reality nobody knows who they are and if they even did that? Last time I checked all these claims were completely unclear whether that’s the leftists, anarchists, a psy-op from the right or even Putin?!
It could well be more of the same old bullshit driving surveillance and criminalisation of environmental and pro Palestine groups.
Sounds like that. We also had the trains being sabotaged where I live, and allegedly there was some open letter by the climate activists. Dunno if those like every commuter to take their fossil powered car to get to work for two days, but hey… Guess identity politics and cheap propaganda doesn’t necessarily have to make sense.
