BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany saw a jump in cases of crime attributed to the far right in 2024, driven largely by online offences and hate speech, a government spokesperson said on Monday.
Up to Nov. 30, there were 33,963 registered cases of right-wing politically motivated crime, the spokesperson said, citing the most current data for last year. This compared with 28,945 such cases during the whole of 2023.
“At this point in time, we can already say that there has been an increase in online offences in particular, especially so-called expression and propaganda offences,” the spokesperson told a press conference in Berlin.
This was due in part to a greater focus by authorities on this form of criminal activity in recent years, he added, describing the figures as nonetheless “alarming”.
Of the cases registered during the 11-month period of 2024, 1,136 were violent crimes, compared with 1,270 during the whole of 2023, according to the data.
The German government has repeatedly warned of an uptick in politically motivated crimes linked to tensions over the war in Gaza.
Germany is also gearing up for federal elections next month, in which the far-right is polling strongly, buoyed by concerns over security and migration.
(Reporting by Rachel More, Editing by Friederike Heine)
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