And right on cue…
Berlin (AFP) – Germany’s domestic intelligence chief warned Sunday of a radicalisation of right-wing groups amid a record influx of migrants, as xenophobic rallies and clashes shook several towns at the weekend.
President Joachim Gauck meanwhile warned of Germany’s “finite capacity” to absorb refugees, cautioning against more “tensions between newcomers and established residents”.
Domestic spy chief Hans-Georg Maassen said that “what we’re seeing in connection with the refugee crisis is a mobilisation on the street of right-wing extremists, but also of some left-wing extremists” who oppose them.
He added, speaking on Deutschlandfunk public radio, that for the past few years his service had witnessed a “radicalisation” and “a greater willingness to use violence” by all extremist groups, including the far right, the anti-fascist far-left and Islamists.
Maassen spoke as Germany expects up to one million migrants this year, and after protests against refugee homes and clashes with police again rocked several towns, mostly in the former communist East Germany.
