In a few weeks, a trial against Tilo P. will start. Investigations revealed that Tilo P., a former board member of the AfD Neukölln, was probably involved in a series of right-wing arsons in Berlin-Neukölln. Since 2016, there have been around 70 acts in the complex, including arson attacks, damage to property and threats. The acts were mainly directed against anti-fascist activists. Tilo P. may have been provided with information by the police officer and AfD member Detlef M.. (German: https://taz.de/Untersuchungsausschuss-Neukoelln-Komplex/!5826103/)
In January 2022, several thousand demonstrations by right-wing pandemic deniers and vaccination opponents continued to take place in Germany. (English: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/30/coronavirus-anti-vaccine-germany/) On January 3, 2022, there were up to 1,500 demonstrations in Germany against the Corona restrictions. This was a new high point and it started to grow higher in January. The stronghold was Saxony, where up to 30,000 people demonstrated on Jan. 17, 2022. Here the “Freie Sachsen” are a big player. Corona demonstrations in Germany continue to radicalize. For example, police in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, found a firearm pen and ammunition, as well as homemade pyrotechnics, on a demonstrator during a demonstration on January 17, 2022. (German: https://www.nordkurier.de/mecklenburg-vorpommern/polizei-findet-waffe-samt-munition-bei-rostocker-anti-corona-demo-1846762301)
On January 21, 2022, the funeral of neo-Nazi Siegfried Borchardt (“SS-Siggi”), who died on October 3, 2021, took place in Dortmund. The funeral was attended by 250 neo-Nazis, including members of Combat 18/Blood & Honour and the Hammerskins. (Pictures: https://pixelarchiv.org/event/2022.01.21.dortmund/2)
On January 24, 2022, 18-year-old Nikolai G. from Mannheim, Germany, deliberately shot a 23-year-old female student and injured another three students. Following the crime, he killed himself.
During a house search on March 20, 2020, at the home of the then party leader of the neo-Nazi party “Der III Weg”, Klaus Armstroff , a signed sponsor membership application of Nikolai G. was confiscated. (German: https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2022-01/heidelberg-angriff-taeter-neonazi-dritter-weg)
The media revealed that Norman P., who has been the head of the security department of the German Bundestag since the beginning of December 2021, is a member of the “Berlin Burschenschaft Gothia” and was a candidate of the right-wing micro party “Bund freier Bürger” in 1998. According to the media, he is currently a member of the CDU. (German: https://www.belltower.news/burschenschaftler-als-bundestags-sicherheitschef-wie-problematisch-ist-die-berliner-burschenschaft-gothia-127299/)
The AfD-affiliated “Desiderius Erasmus Foundation” applied at the end of 2021 for financial support of 7,854,00 euros from state funds for the year 2022. It is possible that the foundation will receive the money and use it to conduct extreme right-wing educational work.
A court declared the AfD election list in Saarbrücken for the state parliamentary elections invalid. A defeated AfD candidate had filed a lawsuit. As a result, the AfD could slip below the 5% hurdle in the state election. (German: https://www.sr.de/sr/home/nachrichten/politikwirtschaft/landtagswahllisteafdsaarlandungueltig_100.html)
On January 28, 2022, the former AfD party leader announced that he was leaving the AfD. He justified this with the shift to the right in the AfD. In fact, he had allied himself for years with the fascist wing of his party. He intends to retain his seat in the European Parliament. (German: https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/ndr-wdr/afd-vorsitz-meuthen-101.html) In contrast, the former CDU member of the Bundestag and chairwoman of the AfD-affiliated “Desiderius Erasmus Foundation” joined the AfD – she had previously been a non-party member. She did so officially as a symbolic act following Meuthen’s resignation. But presumably, it was also about consolidating her position as chairwoman of the foundation.
In January 2022, the AfD decided to nominate the investment manager Max Otte as a candidate for the election of the ‘Bundespräsident’ in Germany. This office has only representative functions and is elected by electors, i.e. the parliamentary majority determines the Federal President. So Otte has no real chance to get elected. Otte accepted the election despite being a member of the conservative CDU party. Within the CDU, he is chairman of the right-wing populist ‘WerteUnion’. The CDU announced expulsion proceedings against Otte. Experts see Otte’s nomination as an attempt to harm the CDU.
The social media platform Gettr is becoming increasingly important among extreme right-wingers in German-speaking countries as a right-wing alternative to Twitter. In January 2022, 250,000 accounts existed in Germany. Gettr was founded in summer 2021 by Jason Miller from the USA. Miller was a press spokesman for former U.S. President Donald Trump. Miller also distributed and promoted contributions by PEGIDA leaders Lutz Bachmann and Siegfried Däbritz. (Felix Huesmann: Für Fans von Trump und der AfD: Der rechte Hype um das soziale Netzwerk Gettr, 18.01.2022, https://www.rnd.de/politik/twitter-klon-gettr-was-steckt-hinter-dem-sozialen-netzwerk-von-rechts-USQ6B4H73RGODENZMX2IOQUONI.html)
International Contacts
It became known that a woman from Finland with the name Miina Hyvärinen is a researcher of the far-right video project „Film Kunst“ in Germany which tries to influence the protests of the covid-deniers.
In January 2022 the publishing house „Jungeuropa Verlag“ publishes the book „Kapitalismus und moderne Klassengesellschaft“, a translation from the french author Guillaume Travers. Travers is member of the ‘Nouvelle Droite’. Over the years there was a big ideological influence of the French ‘Nouvelle Droite’ in Germany.
In January 2022, a delegation of the FPÖ visited a closed meeting of the AfD. They agreed on closer cooperation in the future. Peter Wurm, deputy chairman of the FPÖ parliamentary group in the Austrian National Council, said that the party wanted to “lend a helping hand in Germany.
Research by the daily newspaper taz revealed that in the Ukrainian film “Rhino” by Oleg Senzow, which was co-financed with German funds, the main role is played by Serhij Filimonow. Filimonov is a member of the Kiev neo-Nazi scene. He headed the “National Corps” until 2019. Senzov claims that Filimonov dropped out. 10% of the film’s budget comes from the “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg”. (German: https://taz.de/Wirbel-um-ukrainischen-Schauspieler/!5826297/)