The rise of a “terrible and violent” current heralds the end of the world

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called for “intensifying international cooperation between security institutions to combat right-wing extremism, together with the publication of a study confirming the emergence of a far-right trend tending to the violence and threatens the end of the world. ”

Maas told “Deutsche Presse-Agentur” that “protests against (measures to counter the outbreak of the) new Corona virus are being used by right-wing radicals, not only in Germany but around the world, to spread their ideology.”

The federal minister continued: “Nationalists are cooperating globally in a new dimension, and we must not only cooperate together to confront the virus, but also to confront the poison of the far right, for the sake of our democracy.”

Maas added that “work is already under way within the European Union, the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe against the far-right trend, adding:” But it is clear that the fight against this threat that we face now it cannot succeed without enhancing international cooperation at the global level for security institutions. “.

A “study on the international entanglement of far-right extremists, commissioned by the German Foreign Ministry,” was announced on Friday, claiming that a new “unpopular, transnational, terrible, violent” movement had emerged from two right-wing extremists in the period between 2014 and 2020, and the movement continues to develop.

Maas said: “The movement sees the Corona pandemic as an opportunity to spread its ideology and recruit followers, but its offline activities are restricted, so it will be too early to judge the medium and long-term repercussions of the epidemic on the development of the scene “.

The study prepared by the “Anti-Extremism Project” and included in Germany, France, Great Britain, the United States, Sweden and Finland, documents the emergence of a new far-right movement that “predicts the end of the world and tends to violence “.

Extremists believe in the “great replacement” theory, which considers that “white Europeans are regularly replaced by arrivals from outside the continent.”

They are increasingly working to build cross-border networks with other activists, especially Russians and extremists in Eastern European countries.

The study showed that “concerts and martial arts duels are seen as meeting points where activists seek to attract new members.”

And in the past year, the Corona pandemic has become a means that extremists can leverage to “expand their mobilization to include anti-government conspiracy theories criticizing currently imposed restrictions.”