Lifting the penalties for knife crimes!
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) announced a new package of security measures to address the rise of politically motivated crimes, especially knife attacks. As part of this "security campaign," Dobrindt aims to classify knife attacks as major crimes, punishable by imprisonment for no less than one year instead of the current six months.
He also called for facilitating deportation processes in cases of anti-Semitic crimes committed by foreigners, if they result in a prison sentence of one year or more. In these cases, it should be considered that there is a "special interest in deportation," allowing the state to take deportation action automatically.
During a press conference in Berlin, Dabrindt confirmed that the statistics for 2024 show the urgent need for these measures. More than 84,000 crimes motivated by extremism have been recorded, an increase of 40% from the previous year.
He pointed to the importance of granting the police and security agencies broader powers, in addition to enhancing their protection. In this regard, he announced plans to tighten the minimum penalty for those who attack law enforcement officers, from three to six months.
The Minister of the Interior emphasized the need to firmly confront all anti-constitutional tendencies, regardless of their source. He clarified that he agrees with the statements made by his predecessors in office, Horst Seehofer (CSU) and Nancy Faeser (SPD), that the far-right represents the greatest threat. However, he also pointed out the rise of other threats.
Far-right extremist crimes accounted for the largest share of recorded political crimes in 2024, with a total of 43,000 crimes, an increase of 48%.