'Great concern': Germany reports spike in far-right crime
Germany saw a spike in far-right crimes
including anti-Semitic attacks last year, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer
said Wednesday, describing the trend as a "great concern".
Authorities registered more than 41,000 politically motivated crimes in 2019, ranging from hate speech to bodily harm, arson and murder -- a rise of 14.2 percent on 2018 and the second-sharpest jump since records began in 2001.
Crimes committed by members of the far-right scene grew 9.4 percent, and accounted for more than half of all politically-motivated crimes.
Although such crimes represent a small fraction of overall lawbreaking in Germany, the figures have a "striking significance ... for the stability of our democracy", Seehofer said, adding that the rise was "of great concern".
Some 93.4 percent of anti-Semitic and 90.1 percent of Islamophobic crimes had a far-right motivation, Seehofer said.
READ ALSO: 'We must send a signal': Germany to tighten law on anti-Semitic crimes
Germany has been rocked by a string of extreme-right attacks over the past 12 months.
A gunman with apparent far-right beliefs killed nine people at a shisha bar and a cafe in the city of Hanau in February, while two people were killed in an attack targeting a synagogue in Halle in October.
READ ALSO: What is Germany doing to combat the far-right after Hanau attacks?
In June, pro-immigration politician Walter Lübcke was found shot dead at his home in the state of Hesse, and a far-right sympathiser arrested soon afterwards was last month charged with his murder.
Seehofer proclaimed in March that right-wing extremism and right-wing terrorism were "the biggest danger for democracy in Germany", promising a beefed up security response.
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Authorities registered more than 41,000 politically motivated crimes in 2019, ranging from hate speech to bodily harm, arson and murder -- a rise of 14.2 percent on 2018 and the second-sharpest jump since records began in 2001.
Crimes committed by members of the far-right scene grew 9.4 percent, and accounted for more than half of all politically-motivated crimes.
Although such crimes represent a small fraction of overall lawbreaking in Germany, the figures have a "striking significance ... for the stability of our democracy", Seehofer said, adding that the rise was "of great concern".
Some 93.4 percent of anti-Semitic and 90.1 percent of Islamophobic crimes had a far-right motivation, Seehofer said.
READ ALSO: 'We must send a signal': Germany to tighten law on anti-Semitic crimes
Germany has been rocked by a string of extreme-right attacks over the past 12 months.
A gunman with apparent far-right beliefs killed nine people at a shisha bar and a cafe in the city of Hanau in February, while two people were killed in an attack targeting a synagogue in Halle in October.
READ ALSO: What is Germany doing to combat the far-right after Hanau attacks?
In June, pro-immigration politician Walter Lübcke was found shot dead at his home in the state of Hesse, and a far-right sympathiser arrested soon afterwards was last month charged with his murder.
Seehofer proclaimed in March that right-wing extremism and right-wing terrorism were "the biggest danger for democracy in Germany", promising a beefed up security response.
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