Due to high energy prices, mass riots and acts of violence geared towards overthrowing the government are a possibility, claims the president of the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Stephan Kramer.
“Mass protests and riots are just as conceivable as concrete acts of violence against things and people, as well as classic terrorism to overthrow it,” Kramer told ZDF.
The official claims that so-called legitimate protests by the population would allegedly be infiltrated by extremists. Kramer drew a comparison to the protests against the restrictions on fundamental rights over Germany’s Covid-19 policies.
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“In contrast, what we have experienced so far in the coronavirus pandemic in the form of violent clashes on social networks but also the streets and squares, was likely more of a kids’ birthday party,” he said.
Electricity prices have already tripled in Germany, and those prices are expected to go higher. Although end consumers have not been hit with the bills yet, the coming fall and winter is expected to put extreme burdens on German households. The country is expected to suffer from bankruptcies and mass layoffs, which could threaten social cohesion.
“The energy crisis can lead to a highly emotional and existential crisis that will affect large parts of the population,” the secret service agent employed by the Red–red-green coalition also claimed.
Kramer assesses the mood among the population as explosive.
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“But after the pandemic and the world events of the last few months, we are dealing with a highly emotional, aggressive, pessimistic mood among the population. Its trust in the state, its institutions, and political actors is, at least in some parts, fraught with serious doubts,” Kramer stated.
Brandenburg’s head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Jörg Müller, delivered a simliar warning, saying that “radical political forces” could exploit the energy crisis and high inflation. Extremists dream of a German winter of rage, Müller said.
Germany’s left-wing government and the country’s media effectively kept Covid-19 protests to a minimum by painting them as right-wing. Although Germans may be legitimately outraged over the economic situation their country is facing, the German establishment may attempt to paint such protests as right-wing as well.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, who wrote for Antifa Magazine funded by an organization with extremist ties in the past, has called protesters to examine who they are protesting with. She claims that right-wing extremists will organize demonstrations to take action against the state.
“When in doubt, they don’t care about the pandemic measures or the development of energy prices,” Faeser said.
