13-point action plan against the far-right in Germany

As protests against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and racism have continued for weeks in Germany, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has announced a 13-point action plan to counter the growing far-right, racist, and discriminatory tendencies in the country. 

Faeser announced that they intend to establish an "early detection unit" within the federal government to counter foreign manipulation and influence campaigns. Together with Thomas Haldenwang, President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, and Holger Münch of the Federal Criminal Police Office, she unveiled the 13-point measure package in the capital, Berlin, titled "Fight far-right extremism decisively - use the tools of a militant democracy."

"ATTEMPTING TO WEAKEN DEMOCRACY"

Emphasizing that far-right extremists want to undermine trust in the state's stability and its ability to act, and that they aim to dismantle far-right networks, Faeser stated, “Such coordinated influence campaigns attempt to manipulate political debate and weaken democracy.

The new early detection unit is intended to identify such campaigns in advance. We want to use all the tools of the rule of law to protect our democracy. We want to dismantle far-right networks, deprive them of their income, and seize their weapons," she said.

Faeser also called for amendments to the Basic Law to better protect the Federal Constitutional Court from the influence of enemies of democracy. Referring to the already adopted disciplinary law reform, Faeser noted that the reform would make it easier to remove enemies of the constitution from the federal civil service. Furthermore, the Minister emphasized that investigations into the financial sources of right-wing networks should be facilitated and stated that progress must also be made on gun law reform alongside the catalog of measures.

"FINANCIAL RESOURCES WILL BE DRIED UP"

The announced action plan includes strengthening the resilience of democracy in the country, supporting democrats under attack, adopting a holistic approach to fighting the far-right, drying up the financial resources of far-right networks, monitoring the entry and exit of these groups as strictly as possible, keeping their relationships with extremists in other countries under closer scrutiny, keeping their internet activities under observation, intervening in time against crimes on digital platforms, and preventing far-right extremists from producing and spreading manipulative information using AI-based fake accounts in collaboration with autocratic foreign actors to shake trust in the state.

TIGHTENING OF GUN LAWS

The package also states that with the disciplinary law coming into effect on April 1, enemies of the constitution will be removed from public service, gun laws will be tightened, the arming of extremists will be prevented, permanent and reliable support will be provided to civil society organizations to strengthen democracy against extremism, and the fight against antisemitism will be carried out more decisively.

The new package is based on the "Action Plan Against Right-Wing Extremism" that Faeser presented in March 2022. Some measures, such as plans to tighten gun laws, were also included in the previous report.

PLAN TO DEPORT FOREIGNERS

It was revealed that some members of the AfD party, known for their far-right rhetoric and whose votes are steadily increasing, attended a secret meeting held last November at a luxury hotel north of Potsdam, where the deportation of foreigners living in the country was planned.

Following the exposure of the secret meeting, the banning of the AfD became a subject of debate due to its far-right policies and unconstitutional stance. Tens of thousands of people, primarily in the capital Berlin, held protests against the AfD.