Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann presents constitutional protection information for the first half of 2025: Threats to internal security from a wide range of developments – Islamist actors continue to pursue their goals – Extremists stir up social division – Espionage and sabotage pose a threat to the state and the economy

Threats to internal security in Germany currently arise primarily from three developments:

• Germany remains a target for Islamist actors.
• Right-wing extremists in particular are engaged in massive agitation that divides society.
• Actors acting on behalf of foreign powers are attempting to spy on and sabotage the economy and the state and to undermine trust in its processes, representatives and institutions through targeted disinformation.

This was pointed out by Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann during the presentation of the constitutional protection information for the first half of 2025.

As evidence of the Islamist threat, Herrmann cited the attack on the Verdi demonstration in Munich: ‘There are growing indications that Islamist motives were at least a contributing factor in the attack.’ Two further arrests of Islamists in Brandenburg in February and the attack on visitors to a nightclub in Bielefeld in May also confirmed that Germany remains in the crosshairs of Islamist actors. Social media has become the leading factor in radicalisation. Herrmann: ‘Salafists use all formats and channels to spread their ideology, find more followers or inspire attacks.’ Indoctrination and radicalisation also take place in public, commercial event venues, in mosques or within the family circle, ‘from childhood onwards, so to speak.’ In special Islamist women’s networks, the role of women as primarily responsible for the basic Islamic education of children is propagated and glorified. The ongoing escalation in the Middle East is also an extreme radicalisation factor in the scene.

The observation of the AfD in Bavaria, which began in the summer of 2022, will continue, as confirmed by the courts. Herrmann said that so far, no moderation could be seen in the agitation of AfD politicians against people with a migrant background or Muslim faith, or against democratic institutions: ‘Even their “strategy paper” cannot hide the fact that parts of the AfD continue to defame representatives, procedures and organs of the state and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.’ In addition, there is still evidence of networking between AfD politicians and extremist groups. ‘This applies in particular to the Identitarian Movement.’ It distributes flyers in schools inciting hatred against migrants, accusing teachers of deliberately misinforming pupils and promoting the Identitarian concept of remigration.

The Bavarian Interior Minister also sees cyber security and protection against disinformation and espionage as major challenges. “Russia has significantly intensified its offensive against democracies in Europe. Sabotage, cyber attacks, damage to property and incendiary devices are just a few examples of possible activities that are not only aimed at causing property damage or disrupting processes. They stir up uncertainty, spread fear and are intended to overload security authorities and politicians.” Russian intelligence services are said to recruit paid low-level agents as henchmen who are then tasked with spying, spreading propaganda or sabotage. Herrmann sees this as a serious threat to our democracy.

According to Herrmann, the left-wing extremist scene is driven by agitation ‘against the right,’ ‘whereby the scene itself defines what it considers to be “right-wing.”’ This is leading to a lowering of the threshold for using violence against political opponents. As a result, there are repeated physical attacks on AfD party members.

On the other hand, the scene is trying to defame measures against illegal migration and the necessary strengthening of the security authorities as ‘fascist’ and “racist”. “Left-wing extremists want to rigorously suppress any position that does not correspond to the left-wing extremist view. This is a clear disregard for the fundamental right to freedom of expression and thus also an attack on one of the cornerstones of our democracy,” said Herrmann. Added to this are the pro-Palestinian protests: here, an extremist mixed scene has developed between actors of foreign-related extremism on the one hand and the left-wing extremist scene on the other.

‘Extremists have one thing in common,’ Herrmann concluded: ‘Their goal is to destroy our free democratic basic order and our community.’ To achieve this goal, they are increasingly relying on anti-democratic propaganda, hatred and incitement against those who think differently, as well as targeted disinformation and the use of the latest technology such as AI. This makes it increasingly difficult for individuals to distinguish facts from falsehoods in our increasingly complex world. ‘The expertise of the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution is therefore more important than ever in analysing the goals and methods of enemies of the constitution and in educating the public.’