The conflict in Ukraine, the pandemic, the climate: the number of politically motivated crimes has increased in Germany

The Federal Criminal Office (BKA) of Germany has published data from which it follows that at the end of 2022, the country continued to increase crimes for political reasons. The total number of such crimes hit a new high of 58,916, up 7 percent from a year earlier.

One of the factors behind the increase in the number of politically motivated crimes is the conflict in Ukraine, which has significantly affected Germans who are worried about possible problems with energy supplies. There were 5,510 crimes related to the Ukrainian crisis. There was also a noticeable increase in the number of crimes related to climate and environmental protection, which were 1,716, which is 73 percent more than a year earlier.

In addition, the number of politically motivated crimes related to the coronavirus pandemic has increased significantly and amounted to 13,988, an increase of 52 percent. The statistics also note a significant increase in the number of crimes related to “foreign ideology” (3886 cases), while the number of anti-Semitic crimes decreased by 13 percent to 2641, most of which were committed by right-wing extremists.

Right-wing extremism poses a particular danger to democracy in Germany, with the number of crimes associated with this movement rising by 7 percent to 23,493. In addition, the number of criminal offenses committed by supporters of the right-wing extremist “Reichsburger” movement and congenial “self-governors” increased by 40 percent up to 1865 cases, while most often it was about coercion, threats and insults.