Letnik 9/2, september 2007 - Slovenska vojska

Ralf Klewin-von Fintel
(RZ) no longer exist in Germany. In 2005, the number of violent right-wing
extremists increased slightly by 400 to reach a total of 10,400 17 . Various legal
actions pending since 2004 for membership of, support for, or the establishment
of terrorist organizations and other criminal offences in this scene resulted in the
courts handing down punishments in the form of suspended sentences and custodial
sentences of several years in the first half of 2005. However, the overwhelming
majority of right-wing extremists are currently eschewing acts of terrorist
violence to achieve political aims for tactical reasons. “A terrorist organization
is considered too easy to uncover, and a terrorist attack as having little chance of
success 18 .” In general, an assessment of the threat posed by left and right-wing
terrorism in Germany shows it to be far inferior at present in terms of quality and
intensity to that posed by foreign extremist and terrorist groups – especially those
of an Islamist bent. However, an increase in violent acts by right and left-wing
extremists has been observed in some German Länder in the previous year, which
could potentially indicate a greater willingness to use violence within the scene.
On closer examination however, most of the incidents took place between the
two extremist camps 19 . The conclusion can thus be drawn that combating Islamist
terrorism must remain a top priority for the German security authorities, without
losing sight of potential threats from extremist left and right-wing groups.
T H E G E R M A N A P P R O A C H T O C O M B AT I N G T E R R O R I S M
Combating international terrorism will be a lengthy process for all of the nations
involved, which cannot be completed in the space of a few years. Political
oberservers doubt that this process can be successful if it primarily takes the
form of a “war” on terror. Our approach should thus be characterized more by
strategic combat based on an overall plan. In other words, we will not be able to
eliminate the breeding grounds for terrorism in the long term solely through the
use of force in its countries of origin. However, this idea by no means excludes
the use of military force in principle. Terrorism must be countered by military
17
German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Verfassungsschutzbericht 2005, preliminary version, Berlin, 2006, p.53.
18
Ibid, p.54.
19
See Beckstein, Günther, speech by the Bavarian Minister of the Interior at the presentation of the Report on the
Protection of the Constitution [Verfassungsschutzbericht] for 2005, held on April 6, 2006 in Munich, pp.15f
http://www.stmi.bayern.de/imperia/md/content/stmi/sicherheit/verfassungsschutz/verfassungsschutzberichte/
verfsch_2005_rede.pdf.
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