Germany is facing a possible “escalation” of left-wing terrorism after an eco-extremist attack on Tesla’s “Gigafactory” in Berlin, a senior security official in the country has warned.
Talking to German broadcaster ARD, Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) chief Holger Münch said the country was now experiencing an uptick in violent left-wing activism.
“We have an increasing number of violent crimes,” he told the channel in reference to the so-called Volcano Group, which has claimed responsibility for the March 5 assault on the power infrastructure linked up to the Tesla factory.
“We increasingly have outstanding individual crimes and we also have perpetrators who evade prosecution and go into hiding. Taken together, the whole thing is an escalation of the threat from the left spectrum,” Münch said.
In particular, he highlighted the prevalence of what he said were left-wing arson attacks in the country, expressing concern that the successful attempt to disrupt production at the Berlin Tesla plant would encourage “copycat” crimes.
“That’s why everything will be done to identify the perpetrators as quickly as possible,” Münch said.
He warned that the task of bringing those responsible to justice would not be easy, claiming that was due to the group being “very clandestine”.
The level of damage caused by the attack has also prompted concern.
According to a report by German news outlet Märkische Allgemeinein in the aftermath, the cost likely eclipses €1 million, with the scale of the damage seen as potentially encouraging similar incidents in the future.
Hard-left environmentalists set fire to a high-voltage transformer in Tesla’s Berlin-Brandenburg factory, resulting in a major power outage and a forced halt in production. https://t.co/4j1wOmmVUq
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) March 5, 2024
Fears regarding further politically motivated arson attacks come as the German State struggles to get a handle on apparent left-wing extremism more generally.
The country has so far failed to eliminate the remnants of the former Red Army Faction terror group.
Originally formed with the help of the now-defunct East Germany, it was responsible for numerous deadly attacks in the German Federal Republic, with the lion’s share of its activities taking place between 1972 and 1998.
Daniela Klette, one of the last remaining former members of the group, was arrested during a raid on her home in February this year after decades on the run.
While authorities apprehended the now-65-year-old, much controversy still surrounds her arrest. It is suspected by some that a police decision to let her open the door to her residence herself, instead of officers forcing immediate entry, gave her time to notify potential accomplices to lay low.
Germany’s apparent failure to get a handle on such extremists has prompted indignant outrage from the Right. Many within the country’s populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) accuse State agencies of being more focused on stifling the party’s political activities than the elimination of violent threats from the Left.
“While the middle-class opposition is being spied on and monitored, left-wing extremists are going wild in our country!” AfD Saarland wrote on X.
It went on to accuse the German Government of allowing such extremist groups to gain the “upper hand” in the country, in part — it alleged — due to Berlin’s closeness to them.
“The fight against left-wing extremism is being criminally neglected – no wonder, since political actors from the [Social Democrats] and Greens are themselves knee-deep in the left-wing extremist scene,” the group claimed.
Daniela Klette, a member of Germany’s notorious Red Army Fraction (RAF) militant group who was arrested recently has made an initial appearance before the country’s Federal Court of Justice. https://t.co/rRpkzOvvsE
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) March 7, 2024
