Published 15 January 2022 at 15.57
Abroad. The German constitutional protection (Verfassungsschutz) wants those who take part in protests against vaccine demands and suspensions to be treated as “enemies of the state” – a German term for groups that are considered to threaten the country's democratic state.
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For residents of civilized countries, the concept of “enemy of the state” is something that is perhaps primarily used ironically or associated with movies from Hollywood. But in Germany, the authorities use the term in all seriousness, as a term for people who threaten “German democracy”. – a behavior that poses a threat to democracy.
– They basically reject our democratic political system, he tells FAZ.
He believes that these “extremists”, who do not go to attribute to right-wing or left-wing extremism, does not need any particular topic to agree on but has now found the pandemic as a “food hook” for spreading criticism and questioning of politicians and political decisions.
– Whether it is if the corona, the refugee policy or the flood disaster, these people are trying to create the impression that the state has failed and done nothing for the people, says Haldenwang.
The group is not united by ideological conviction but rather a v a conviction that they have the right to criticize politicians and those in power, warns Haldenwang. Or as he puts it: Out of “contempt for the democratic rule of law and its representatives”.
– It is difficult to say with certainty how big this scene is because it is so pronouncedly heterogeneous, he tells FAZ .