Far-right terrorism ‘biggest threat’ to German democracy

Far-right terrorism and extremism are the biggest danger facing democracy in Germany today, the domestic intelligence agency chief said yesterday, after the country was hit by several extremist attacks in recent months. The most radical right-wingers number 32,000 in the country, said BfV chief Thomas Haldenwang, adding that 13,000 are considered potentially violent. His agency also placed under formal surveillance the far-right AfD party's most radical faction Fluegel (The Wing) which now has about 7,000 members. Founded in 2013, the AfD has grown and shifted further right over the last seven years. Railing against Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision in 2015 to keep Germany's borders open to refugees, the AfD has scooped up a significant number of votes from those unhappy with the government's migration policy.

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