Germany’s
far-right Reichsbuerger movement has grown to almost 16,000 members,
while some of them are eying their own armed wing and are preparing
for 'Day X', Focus magazine reports, citing intelligence sources. The
stunning revelation came into the spotlight earlier this week after
Germany’s Focus magazine published a report citing an assessment of
the domestic intelligence agency, the BfV.
Responding
to Focus’ request for comment, the BfV, the agency in charge of
monitoring extremist groups threatening constitutional order, said
the number of Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich in German) members
had grown to 15,600 as of January – with the figure marking a
dramatic increase of more than 50 percent within one year.
The
highest number of extremists is in Bavaria, where the authorities
recorded about 3,500 “Reich Citizens.” The former hotbed of
German Nazism is followed by the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg with
2,500, and North Rhine-Westphalia with 2,200 members. Further down
the list are Lower Saxony with 1,400, and Saxony with 1,300
Reichsbuerger.
In
addition, the extremist movement is reportedly nurturing plans to set
up an armed wing and stage violent acts, Focus reported. “They
have begun preparing themselves for Day X,” an unnamed security
official told the magazine, allegedly referring to a day of reckoning
or uprising against the government.
The
Reichsbuerger, a loose association of nationalist groups spread
across the country, believe that modern-day Germany and its political
institutions are run by a puppet government installed by the victors
in World War II, which makes them illegitimate.
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