(Deutsche Welle) It was the first time Thomas Haldenwang, president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, had hosted his agency’s traditional symposium. The event on Monday in Berlin was entitled “Mobilization Capability in Political Extremism” — referring to issues beyond Islamic extremists, a group that was almost exclusively the focus of attention in recent years under his controversial predecessor, Hans-Georg Maassen. Haldenwang also put right-wing and left-wing extremists on the agenda.
Despite this shift in focus, Haldenwang neither ignored nor trivialized religiously motivated extremism. People should not be deceived by the fact that the “Islamic State” (IS) has suffered a military defeat in Syria and Iraq, he said. Referring to the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka that left several hundred people dead, Haldenwang added that IS has gone underground as a terrorist organization and said he fears their attacks could inspire potential imitators in other regions of the world.
