German intelligence services consider the far right a danger to democracy

Far-right extremism remains the “greatest threat” to the liberal democratic order in Germany, according to the latest report from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s domestic intelligence service.

“Germany is under pressure,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt warned Tuesday as he presented the 2025 report in Berlin. “The adversaries of our democratic and unitary constitutional order come from both outside and inside. They operate both offline and online. They act visibly and covertly.”

According to the intelligence services, Germany sits at the center of a “network of hybrid threats.” “From abroad, we see sabotage and espionage. From within, we face pressure from extremism in all its forms, both online and on the streets,” the minister said, painting a bleak picture in which foreign espionage is on the rise, reports and indications of attack preparations are increasing, and more people are willing to resort to violence. The number of extremists, on both the far right and far left, has also grown.

BfV president Sinan Selen, for his part, pointed to three distinct trends the agency has observed in the country: young people are being selectively recruited and radicalized; recruitment is taking place mainly online; and artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to spread extremist ideologies. “This applies to cyberattacks and information manipulation as well as to far-right music and the planning of Islamist attacks,” he explained, noting that the Islamic State urges its followers to familiarize themselves with AI.

Ultimately, however, Germany’s main threat comes from within its own population. According to the report, the number of far-right extremists increased by more than 8,000 over the past year, reaching nearly 60,000. Much of this increase is linked to the growing membership of Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party currently under surveillance by the intelligence services as a “suspected case.” The party stated in October that it had reached 70,000 members. Of those, around 28,000 are considered right-wing extremists, according to BfV estimates.

Despite the threat posed by circles linked to what Dobrindt described as “an extremist party,” the minister declined to comment on a legal opinion published last week by the Society for Civil Rights (GFF), which argues that there are good prospects for seeking a ban on AfD. He also refused to speculate on what might happen if AfD enters the government of Saxony-Anhalt after September, as current polls suggest. Instead, he recommended focusing on “doing everything politically possible to make it feasible to secure a majority in a regional parliament without AfD.” AfD’s participation in a state government would pose “a security risk,” as Thuringia’s Interior Minister, Georg Maier, recently warned, because the party would gain access to intelligence services and could potentially leak information.

The threat also comes, albeit to a lesser extent, from left-wing extremists willing to use violence. Their number has risen to 42,200, while the number considered prone to violence has reached a new record of 11,600. Dobrindt cited as examples the arson attacks on Berlin’s power grid in September 2025 and January 2026, which left large parts of the city without electricity during a severe cold spell. According to the BfV report, this increase is also linked to the rise of far-right extremism. “Given what this milieu perceives as a rightward shift in society, militant anti-fascism is likely to continue playing a significant role, and a high number of crimes and violent acts can be expected to persist,” the report states.

Germany has long struggled with espionage. “Acts of sabotage by foreign states targeting us are part of the daily threat. The greatest threat currently comes from Russia,” the interior minister said, noting that they observe Russian services increasingly using so-called “low-level agents” or “disposable agents” to carry out sabotage or espionage activities.

“Russia considers Germany a key adversary in Europe and, as part of hybrid operations on the continent, uses the full range of instruments at its disposal. These include cyberattacks and isolation measures, information manipulation and influence operations, as well as sabotage and espionage of targets related to alleged attack plans,” Selen added.

According to German intelligence, Russia has for years invested “considerably” to exert illegitimate influence over public opinion in Germany, focusing especially on the extremes of the political spectrum. Germany also faces espionage from China and Iran.

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