Berlin (dts) – Since November 2019, the Federal Police have banned 49 right-wing extremists from leaving Germany. This emerges from the response of the Federal Ministry of the Interior to a request from the left-wing Bundestag member Martina Renner, which is reported in the newspapers of the “Editorial Network Germany” (Thursday editions). In total, the Federal Police ordered 55 exit bans during this period - individual neo-Nazis were therefore banned from leaving the Federal Republic more than once.
The most common reason given by the ministry for banning departure is “the planned participation in right-wing extremist memorial, music or martial arts events abroad” and the resulting “damage to the reputation of the Federal Republic of Germany”. The Federal Ministry of the Interior was no longer able to say how many exit bans there had been until October 2019 due to data protection deletion deadlines. Around half of the exit bans were connected to the planned participation of German neo-Nazis in right-wing extremist memorial demonstrations in Hungary and Bulgaria in 2020 and 2022. This emerges from the federal government's response to another parliamentary question from the Left. Since the start of the Russian war of aggression this February, the Federal Police have also prevented a few German right-wing extremists from traveling to Ukraine. The war in Ukraine has recently made it clear that the authorities have major problems preventing German right-wing extremists from leaving the country, said the domestic policy spokeswoman for the left-wing faction in the Bundestag, Martina Renner, to the RND. “The figures now presented for the total exit bans in recent years prove this,” said Renner. It is absolutely necessary for the security authorities to focus more closely on the travel movements of right-wing extremists. “In recent years, hundreds of German right-wing extremists have taken part in events or rallies abroad. These often serve as networking meetings and strengthen the scene in its actions,” says Renner. It is not enough to only carry out increased controls during well-known major events. “Traveling abroad must be increasingly prevented,” demanded the left-wing politician.
