In June 2021 the SEK Frankfurt (Main) was disbanded. The reason: officers who were its members had shared “racist content” and symbols of National Socialist organisations in a chat room. This Hessian special deployment unit is, however, not the only elite unit in German security authorities facing serious accusations. Again and again, right-wing extremist incidents occur in various federal states within the security authorities, or even active assistance for right-wing extremist structures from within them. Their sheer number makes it hard to speak of isolated cases. There is evidently a larger right-wing extremism problem in the German security authorities that urgently needs to be tackled. Why are security authorities so interesting for right-wing extremists in particular? Are there Islamists within the security authorities? Are there factors that attract people with extremist ideas? And how can that be prevented? Is there enough self-control, or do the existing concepts have to be revised?WerteInitiative e.V. is continuing its series “360° – Threats to Jewish life in Germany and dangers for liberal democracy”. On 10 November 2021 it addresses the topic “Extremism in security authorities – How the state controls itself” . The participants in the discussion are:
> Thomas Haldenwang: President of the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution)
> Matthias Meisner: author of “Extreme Sicherheit – Rechtsradikale in Polizei, Verfassungsschutz, Bundeswehr und Justiz”
> Dr Irene Mihalic: domestic policy spokesperson of the Bündnis90/Die Grünen parliamentary group in the Bundestag
> Konstantin Kuhle: domestic policy spokesperson of the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag
Moderation: Hanning Voigts (journalist / Frankfurter Rundschau)
Date: 10 November 2021
Venue: Berlin-Mitte
Format: Moderated panel discussion with an invited live audience and video recording. As with the past events, the video recording will be made available online a short time afterwards.
Invitations are issued personally.
