Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has issued a warning against granting citizenship to individuals with anti-Semitic attitudes. Speaking to the newspapers of the Funke Media Group, the CSU politician stated that the prevalence of Israel-hatred and openly anti-Jewish demonstrations on German streets is completely unacceptable. He pointed out that in recent years, there has been a specific rise in incoming antisemitism, which requires heightened attention from authorities to prevent it from evolving into established, naturalized antisemitism.
Dobrindt countered the notion that left-wing antisemitism is currently a more dangerous threat than right-wing or Islamist hatred toward Jews. He emphasized that he does not distinguish between right-wing, left-wing, or Islamist forms of antisemitism, asserting that his fight is directed against all forms of such hatred.
In general, the Interior Minister intends to intensify the fight against far-left extremism. He noted that this phenomenon is resurfacing more strongly in Germany, especially in the form of arson attacks targeting infrastructure. The incident in Berlin on January 3rd was particularly alarming because by burning a single power line, it deprived over 100,000 people of electricity and heat in the dead of winter. Dobrindt stressed that this was not an accident but a planned action, demonstrating the increased capacity and willingness within the far-left scene to actively disregard the harm caused to the population.
While acknowledging that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is well-equipped to combat right-wing extremism and Islamist terrorism, Dobrindt criticized the fact that the fight against far-left extremism had not been a major focus of policy in recent years. Consequently, he is establishing an additional priority in this area.
