Holy warriors from Germany are only part of the extremist problem

They set out to set up the "Caliphate" - and ended up being accused of German criminal proceedings: the approximately 1,000 jihadists who traveled from Germany to Syria and Iraq during the heyday of the "Islamic State" (IS) terrorist militia will remain in the judiciary for a long time to come occupy.

Above all, the highest German prosecutor, the Federal Public Prosecutor (GBA), has good things to do with the self-proclaimed holy warriors. More than half of the investigations initiated by the authority in 2022 had links to Islamist terrorism. The proceedings of the GBA against right-wing or left-wing extremists are of little importance in comparison.

The numbers seem clear. But they need classification. On the one hand, they do not reflect the current threat situation, but are the result of a development that has come to an end. With the demise of the IS, the wave of people leaving for the combat zones also ebbed away. It is, of course, entirely correct that the GBA is prosecuting these cases. From the point of view of averting danger, however, this wave of departures no longer plays a direct role.

The figures from the Federal Public Prosecutor only reflect part of the extremist German reality: Because of the jurisdiction regulations, proceedings against left-wing or right-wing extremists (operating in Germany) do not usually end up in Karlsruhe, but are processed by the regional public prosecutor’s offices in the federal states. For a meaningful overall picture, one would have to take into account the figures from the other German public prosecutor's offices in addition to the figures from the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office. There, investigations into Islamists are less frequent, but investigations into left-wing and right-wing extremists are all the more frequent.

Overall, the situation remains the same: danger lurks on all sides and the authorities must remain vigilant. You must not let yourself be guided by politically motivated demands - but must continue to look in all directions.