Pictures can often succinctly explain a complex topic better than long speeches. That's why German Federal Interior Minister Aleksandar Dobrint (CSU) likes to use charts during public appearances. This Tuesday (June 9) was one such occasion: together with Holger Münch, President of the Federal Criminal police (BKA), presented statistics on politically motivated crime (PMK) for the year 2025.
The violence of left-wing extremism almost doubled
And the press conference had just started, and Dobrint presented a graph showing two curves. Even from a distance, it was clearly visible that the pink line grew at a much sharper angle than the brown. Pink represents cases of left-wing extremist violence, and brown represents right-wing extremist violence.
In this way, the minister in charge of security in Germany illustrated a trend that he considers dangerous: "With a 42 percent increase in violent incidents, the left-wing scene represents a clearly growing threat and that is evident here." In absolute terms, the figure for 2025 was - almost 1.100 cases of left-wing extremist violence.
Right-wing extremism remains the biggest threat
However, a significantly higher number of cases of violence can still be attributed to the right-wing scene: just under 1.600. The minister therefore emphasized: “This clearly shows that the greatest danger naturally arises from right-wing extremism.” This conclusion holds even when other offenses are taken into account – these include, in addition to violent incidents, primarily damage to property, the use of prohibited propaganda, insults and incitement to hatred.
In total, just under 86.000 politically motivated crimes were recorded - the highest number since the statistics were first compiled in 2001. That's an average of 235 cases per day – or ten per hour. In half of all cases, the suspects came from a right-wing extremist milieu. A large proportion involved hate crimes – and among them were a large number of cases of hostility that were anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim or anti-Roma.
Anti-Semitism continues to grow
As for anti-Semitism, the number of attacks increased by five percent, to over 6.500. Interior Minister Dobrint therefore believes that Germany and its political establishment have a greater obligation than ever to oppose this: "I want to make it clear, therefore, that we will not relent in our efforts to protect Jewish life."
The president of the BKA, Minh, attributes the rising numbers in almost all categories of offenses to increasing social polarization: "This can lead to radicalization that ultimately manifests as violence against those with different views or against the political system." He also identifies propaganda - some of which originates abroad - as the driving force behind politically motivated crime.
Crises in the world are also reflected in Germany
Then there are international conflicts. "They intensify the processes of radicalization and violence committed in the name of ideological goals," says Minh. With this broad formulation, it covers practically all the crises that are reflected in different ways in Germany: the Russian war against Ukraine, the unstable situation in Iran and the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Millions of people from these countries and regions live in Germany - the vast majority of them peacefully. Relative to their total number, only a small fraction resort to violence – for example, at demonstrations calling for a Palestinian state or the overthrow of Iran's Islamist regime – or attack synagogues. "The foundations of our democracy are under attack"
The head of the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) makes it clear: "All these crimes are a blow to the very essence of our democracy" - a form of society in which everyone can live freely, safely and with dignity, he adds. He is well aware that this ideal faces daily threats; the number of cases of politically motivated crime serves as a barometer for this.
And on this scale, the temperature is rising almost everywhere. It is also evident in the increase in crimes hostile to women and the queer community. "The social climate is getting warmer," Minh concludes. "The foundations of our democracy are under attack."
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