Increasing violence between political extremes 16/05/2008 00:00

Germany's far left and the neo-Nazi movement are becoming increasingly violent toward each other according to the German security service

Germany is experiencing a new level of political violence between the hard left and the far right, interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned Thursday.

With reference to the running street battles in Hamburg at the beginning of the month, Schaeuble revealed that police had been overwhelmed by an unprecedented level of aggression by protesters on both sides of the political spectrum.

German security service president Heinz Fromm told press that the number of so-called 'autonomous nationalists' had doubled in the past year. The group is well known for violent tactics and is estimated to have over 4000 members.

In recent years the German security services have documented a move among ultra-nationalists away from the traditional skinhead stereotype, warning that members of the far-right are integrating into more normal social circles.

Crimes by the far right have fallen slightly, whereas those involving the extreme left have risen by around sixteen percent, in part due to demonstrations at the G8 summit in Germany last summer. Expatica