By IRNA
Berlin : The number of neo-Nazis has continued to rise over the past year, the weekly Focus news magazine on Saturday cited Germany’s domestic Verfassungsschutz intelligence agency as saying.
Around 4,400 neo-Nazis belonged to the hardcore German far-right scene last year which is 200 more than in 2006.
The Focus report is based on statistics released in the yet unpublished annual Verfassungsschutz report.
The German Interior Ministry refused comment on the Focus story.
The number of violence-prone far-rightists has dropped to 10,000 last year, compared 10,400 in 2006, according to the
Verfassungsschutz.
Germany has been the scene of repeated brutal neo-Nazi attacks in recent months.
German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has repeatedly warned of a growing far-right problem in his country, branding it a “steadily growing danger.”
Schaeuble voiced earlier concern that the number of far-right crimes between 2005 and 2006 rose from 15,000 to 18,000 offenses, indicating a 9.3 percent increase.
Meanwhile, the number of anti-foreigner attacks hovered at 511 in 2006, showing a 37 percent rise from the previous year.
Political observers link the dramatic rise in the number of far-right crimes to the recent success of neo-Nazi parties in key regional elections in several east German states.
Young neo-Nazis feel more and more emboldened to commit hate crimes, knowing that police won’t charge them with an offense.
Most of the suspects implicated in far-right crimes are juveniles.
Hate crime experts and sociologists have repeatedly
stressed that Germany’s political leadership lacks a clear and effective strategy to fight neo-Nazi and racist crimes.