Germany updates: Police chief warns of youth radicalization

Yahoo

24-05-2025

The head of Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, has told newspapers that some young people are organizing themselves in groups to commit "serious crimes" after being radicalized by far-right ideologies.
His remarks come after German police this week cracked down on a far-right extremist cell with members as young as 14.
Train services at Hamburg's main station are meanwhile back to normal after 18 people were injured on Friday in a knife attack by a female suspect.
This is a roundup of the top news stories from Germany on May 24, 2025.
Train services at Hamburg's main station have resumed normal operations after a knife attack on Friday that left 18 injured, a spokeswoman for train operator Deutsche Bahn told the DPA news agency.
A 39-year-old woman was arrested at the scene on suspicion of carrying out the attack.
She is to come before a magistrate on Saturday.
Four of the 18 wounded suffered life-threatening inuries, while six were seriously hurt, officials said.
So far, police do not believe the attack was politically or ideologically motivated but was rather the result of some kind of psychological distress on the part of the attacker.
The head of Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, has warned that young people within right-wing extremist circles are becoming increasingly radicalized. "For about a year, we've increasingly seen very young people with right-wing views becoming more radicalized and forming, at times, well-organized groups to carry out serious crimes," Münch told the Funke media group of newspapers in remarks published on Saturday.
He said the internet was a major factor aiding the far-right scene to spread its network.
"Radicalization, recruitment and mobilization increasingly happen via social networks and right-wing forums," Münch said.
The BKA head said right-wing crime was posing a "major challenge" to security agencies but that general society also had a big role to play in reducing the threat.
His remarks follow the arrests this week of five male suspects aged 14 to 18 who were members of a far-right extremist cell alleged to have plotted violent attacks on migrants.
The head of Germany's federal crime agency, Holger Münch, has told newspapers that young people are increasingly falling under the thrall of far-right extremist ideologies, with some prepared to commit "serious crimes."
Meanwhile, train services at the main station in the northern port city of Hamburg have resumed full operations after disruption caused on Friday by a knife attack carried out by a suspected female assailant in which several were injured.
DW's Bonn newsroom keeps you up to speed with the latest headlines from Germany at a time when Europe's economic powerhouse is facing several major challenges from within and abroad.