Germany updates: Sharp rise in politically motivated crime

A new report on global migration appeals to Germany's new government to reconsider restrictive immigration policies, such as border controls and limits on family reunification.

DW takes a closer look here.

Twelve German citizens and their immediate relatives will be permitted to leave the war-torn Gaza Strip, Germany's Foreign Office said Tuesday.

A foreign office spokeswoman said their return was secured after close coordination between German and Israeli authorities.

"They had to hold out for months in catastrophic conditions, in some cases without sufficient food and drinking water and without functioning medical care," the spokeswoman continued, 

Six children are among the group, she added.

Once they arrive in Germany, they will receive support from state counsellors and an airport chaplain, the Foreign Office said.

The spokeswoman stressed that Germany was not evacuating Gazans. 

"The departure of the Germans and their family members from Gaza is in no way connected to the Israeli policy of so-called 'voluntary departure' of Palestinians from Gaza, but
solely serves the duty of care for our nationals," she explained. 

"The German government and its European and international partners emphatically reject resettlement from the Gaza Strip," she added.

Since March, when a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed and Israel resumed its military campaign in the Palestinian enclave, a total of 86 German nationals, including their closest family members, have been able to leave the Strip, the spokeswoman said.

The male suspect in a knife attack last weekend outside a bar in the western city of Bielefeld was remanded in custody Tuesday on suspicion of attempted murder.

A judge ordered the suspect to remain in custody for "four counts of attempted murder in conjunction with dangerous bodily harm."

Investigators were still searching for a motive behind the stabbing early Sunday morning, which left four people seriously injured.

Prosecutors said their investigations into the motive also include a "possible Islamist background to the offence."

Police say there is a "strong suspicion" that the suspect, who has been identified as a 35-year-old man of Syrian origin, tried to kill "at least four people with a knife and a spear-like object" during the knife attack. 

Later on Tuesday, federal prosecutors said they had opened proceedings against the suspect due to the case's "special significance."

"It is suspected that the act was religiously motivated and is to be understood as an attack on the free democratic basic order," a statement said.

The attack injured five people aged between 22 and 27, with four of the alleged victims sustaining serious injuries, including two that were life-threatening.

Police said Monday that their conditions had since stabilized. 

Germany's interior minister Alexander Dobrindt has said a recent assessment by the country's domestic intelligence agency classifying the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a "right-wing extremist" organization is insufficient to justify a ban on the party.

Earlier this month, the BfV upgraded the AfD's status from "suspected" to "confirmed right-wing extremist" because the party "disregards human dignity" and is a threat to German democracy.

The BfV then said it would refrain from using the "right-wing extremist" label to refer to the AfD until a court rules on an appeal by the party.

If the court rules in favor of the BfV, the far-right, anti-immigration party — which has made historic gains in recent years to become the second largest party in the German parliament — would be subject to surveillance by domestic intelligence services.

The BvF's classification has renewed a national debate over whether the party should be banned.

But Dobrindt argued Tuesday that the intelligence report that underpinned the BvF's assessment primarily focused on whether the AfD violates the principle of human dignity and did not have enough evidence to justify a ban. 

Banning a political party, Dobrindt said, would also require evidence that it poses a threat to democracy or the rule of law. 

The interior minister said the BvF report did not address these two points.

Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has also cast doubt on whether banning a party that came second in February's federal election would be appropriate.

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil on Tuesday called for international trade disputes to be resolved as quickly as possible.

Klingbeil made the remarks in Berlin before departing for Banff, Canada, where he is due to attend a G7 finance ministers' meeting — his first major foreign trip since he was appointed this month.

The aggressive tariffs policy pursued by US President Donald Trump has caused significant market turmoil and doubts about long-standing international trade relations.

"Tariffs and uncertainties are a burden on our economy and therefore also on job security," Klingbeil said, as he called for trade disputes to be resolved "as quickly as possible."

Klingbeil said German authorities, along with its European allies and the European Commission (EC), are in talks with the US on resolving the trade dispute sparked by Trump's tariffs.

In April, Trump said he would start imposing taxes on imports from nearly all countries. He announced tariffs of 20% on the European Union, before pausing them for 90 days.

Germany and the EU are working on an agreement with Washington before the 90-day pause ends.

"At the same time, as the largest single market in the world, we are determined to defend our interests," Klingbeil said.

EC President Ursula von der Leyen met with US Vice President JD Vance on the sidelines of Pope Leo XIV's inaugural Mass on Sunday, with the pair discussing a possible EU-US trade deal.

Three men accused of spying for Russia have denied the charges on the first day of their espionage trial in Munich on Tuesday.

The three defendants — all dual German-Russian nationals — denied accusations of plotting sabotage attacks against military infrastructure and railway lines in Germany.

The suspects allegedly collected intelligence about an oil refinery and a US military training area, which are both located in Bavaria, the southern German state of which Munich is the capital and largest city. 

They are also accused of planning to detonate explosives at buildings and other infrastructure used to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Police first arrested two of them, identified* as Dieter S. and Alexander J., in Bavaria last year. The third defendant, Alex D., was arrested separately. 

A defense lawyer for Dieter S., who is believed to have been the leader of the three defendants, told the court that their client "is not a spy, he is not a saboteur."

The 40-year-old suspect, who denied having any links to Russian intelligence or espionage operations, argued that he had thought he would be able to earn money as an informant.

"He thought he could do a bit of acting and pretend to be a spy," the lawyer added.

Dieter S. is also denied being involved in any military activity in eastern Ukraine between 2014 and 2016 with an armed terrorist organization. 

The other two defendants — identified as Alexander J. and Alex. D who are believed to have helped Dieter S. — also denied the espionage charges, but have admitted to some of the alleged offences. 

Germany's domestic intelligence agency has said Russian espionage and disinofrmation activity within Germany has sharply increased since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the new figures on politically motivated crime underlined an urgent need for major security action.

"The unprecedented increase in the number of politically motivated crimes is a worrying development that we are combating with the utmost consistency and determination," he said.  

"The high number of antisemitic crimes, in particular, is unacceptable," he added. The figures released Tuesday showed a nearly 21% increase in antisemitic crimes in 2024 compared to the year before. 

Dobrindt noted that politically motivated crimes were spreading "fear and terror" and causing volunteers and politicians to cease their work. 

"The current statistics once again underscore the urgent need for a joint security offensive by the federal and state governments — a true turning point in domestic security."

Dobrindt, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party, was sworn in as interior minister earlier this month.

He has advocated for stricter migration policies, and has previously defended former Interior Minister Horst Seehofer's statement that "Islam does not belong to Germany." 

Germany recorded a 40% rise in politically motivated crime in 2024 compared to the year before, according to figures released Tuesday.

Of the total figure, 42,788 were right-wing extremist, amounting to nearly 50% of politically motivated crimes. 

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the "extreme" increase in figures was "driven by the polarization of our society" and by the rise of antisemitism.

Natalie Pawlik, the government commissioner for anti-racism, decried a "dramatic" increase in racist, antisemitic and Islamophobic crimes in Germany.  

"Hitler salutes, incitement to hatred, punches in the face — a right-wing crime every 12 minutes in our country," she said. 

Pawlik called on the federal government and German states to work on further prevention and political education against such crimes. 

"And everyone in this country has a duty not to turn a blind eye to right-wing extremism and racism," she said, urging people to "intervene in incidents on buses or trains and to defend our peaceful coexistence in a diverse country."

"The figures are a bitter reality, but they must never become the norm."

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin showed that Moscow was still not willing to make concessions to end the war in Ukraine. 

"There is still no sign of a ceasefire," Pistorius said on the sidelines of the meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels. 

Putin said that Russia was prepared to work out a "memorandum" with the Ukrainian government to prepare a "possible future peace agreement" between the two states.

But Pistorius argued he no longer judged "words," but "deeds and actions." This would "help us all more than speculating about the seriousness of intentions," he said.

Pistorius made the remarks in Brussels, where he is attending a meeting of EU defense ministers. Among other topics, the ministers are discussing further support for Ukraine and the EU's defense capabilities. 

EU foreign ministers are also meeting later on Tuesday to discuss further sanctions against Russia.

The Czech Republic won against Germany 5-0 on Monday evening, remaining unbeaten at the ice hockey world championship. 

The win put the Czech Republic at the top of Group B, followed by Switzerland and the US. 

On Tuesday, Germany will face Denmark in a game that will decide which team qualifies to the quarterfinals. 

Police in the western city of Bielefeld said they arrested a suspect after an attack outside a bar left several people injured. 

Authorities had been searching for the suspect, whom they identified as a 35-year-old Syrian man, since early Sunday. 

According to investigators, the man is said to have randomly attacked revelers outside a bar in downtown Bielefeld with a sharp object, injuring at least five people before going on the run.

Police said the suspect left behind a bag containing personal documents and a bottle containing a liquid that smelled of gasoline.

The attack has drawn speculation that the suspect did not act spontaneously but had planned an attack.

Police said they may provide further information on Tuesday. 

The trial of three men accused of spying for Russia is due to begin at a regional court in the southern city of Munich. 

The trio, all German-Russian dual nationals, are also charged with planning sabotage plots against military infrastructure and railway lines in Germany.

Police first arrested two of them, identified* as Dieter S. and Alexander J., in Bavaria last year. The third defendant, Alex D., was arrested separately. 

The main suspect in the case is Dieter S., who is believed to have been at the center of sabotage plots, while the other two are alleged to have helped him.

Prosecutors have also charged Dieter S. with "membership in a foreign terrorist organization" for allegedly belonging to a pro-Russian militia in eastern Ukraine between 2014 and 2016.

According to prosecutors, it was during this time that he came into contact with Russian intelligence services. 

The trial kicks off Tuesday at the Higher Regional Court in Munich at 10 a.m. local time (0800 UTC). Over 40 hearings are scheduled until December. 

*DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.

Guten Morgen from Bonn. A few trials in Germany are making headlines today, most notably that of three dual German-Russian citizens accused of spying for Moscow. 

Also on the agenda today: the Interior Ministry is giving a briefing on annual figures of politically motivated crime and Germany will face Denmark in the ice hockey World Championship.