Here too, Botho Strauß was right: Russia is a force of tradition that is turning against the dynamics of the Western way of life.

Germany was too greedy for cheap gas from Russia, has to break away from it with difficulty, and is now paying for having been driven more by economics than politics. Inflation, prices are soaring. A weak economy is plaguing the country, which has, among other things, relied on the combustion engine for too long. German engineers are somehow having a hard time with the electric car. No German government has taken climate change seriously, to the dismay of many young people.

The good news from recent times: Germany unexpectedly becomes world champion in basketball.

The bad news: violence against Green and Social Democratic election campaigners, an echo of Weimar conditions on German streets. Anti-Semitic excesses break out during protests against Israel’s actions in the war against Hamas, especially at universities. Some Jews no longer feel comfortable in Germany, they are afraid. In the country of the perpetrators, which has pledged to “never again”. Nevertheless, this is not a “failed state”; all in all, this is a successful country that has set the framework for a pleasant life for its citizens: freedom, security, stability, progress. For its allies and neighbors, it is a fair, peaceful partner. Congratulations, Federal Republic of Germany.

The leader of the “National Militia” of the “Azov” movement swore his comrades to the final “clash of civilizations” on August 1, 2020 at the edge of a forest near Kiev. “The age of absolute darkness lies before us,” predicted Igor “Tcherkas” Mikhailenko and demanded that the hundreds of mostly masked fighters of his “vigilante group” present would make sacrifices for the idea of a “Greater Ukraine.” He gave a new battle cry: “Aut Caesar, aut nihil!” (all or nothing). By torchlight and with Nazi pomp, which was based on the war aesthetics of ancient Rome, the “Centuria” organization was born – and the “National Militia” was history. Since 2017, they had been practicing brutal vigilante justice in Ukrainian cities and, for example, tyrannizing the LGBTQ scene. “Centuria” has enjoyed the admiration of the small neo-Nazi party “Der III. Weg(The third way)” in this country for years.

The organization (not to be confused with the military order of the same name and also associated with “Azov”, which already existed before 2020) now has an offshoot in Germany: On August 24, 2023, immigrant Ukrainian fascists founded an initiative group in Magdeburg: "Although the Ukrainian youth are not in their homeland, they are starting to unite,” they announced on social media. The “enemies” of their country, whom they want to cause a “hellish storm” against, must understand that “Ukrainian emigrants” are not prepared to “forget their national identity for a few hundred euros.”

Photos and videos show a nationalist rally on the Old Market in Magdeburg on the 32nd anniversary of Ukraine’s independence - as usual unmolested by Antifa and critical media reporting. According to its own information, the march was organized by “Centuria”. The participants posed with a flag of the Bandera wing of the fascist Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). The “German-Ukrainian Society of Saxony-Anhalt” is also said to have been involved. Most recently, the group organized a solidarity rally for the “Defenders of Azovstal” in front of the Red City Hall in Berlin on January 27th, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Since its founding, “Centuria Magdeburg” has also been inviting people to go on hikes together in the Harz Mountains. For example, with the nationalist scout association “Plast”, which has been based in Germany since 1951 and had already set up its first tent camp in Mittenwald in 1947. According to its own information, “Centuria Magdeburg” has members in a total of six cities and is networked with Ukrainian organizations throughout Germany. The group is currently raising funds for its parent organization’s combat unit, which has been integrated into the third “Azov” assault brigade of the Ukrainian army under the command of Nazi leader Andriy Biletsky since 2022, and is participating in “information warfare.” Not only against Russia, but also against minorities hated by the fascists: the “German Caliphate”, Palestinians and other migrants from predominantly Muslim regions, as well as “black rapists” who are allegedly protected by the police, and “pedophiles”, as the group calls homosexuals.

“We are creating a new generation of heroes!” they promise. True to its leader Mikhailenko - who wants to “destroy everything anti-Ukrainian” and was head of the Nazi organization “Patriot of Ukraine” in the Kharkiv region and commander of the “Azov” regiment of the National Guard from 2014 to 2016 - the group relies on violence: "Free People have weapons,” it says on her Telegram channel. The German traffic light government supplies these in abundance to the Ukrainian armed forces and thus also to the fascist and other ultra-right units belonging to them. It can therefore be assumed that “Centuria” will be able to expand its structures in Germany unhindered by the local security authorities.

Repression against Muslims has increased in the run-up to India’s elections in April and May. The scene of the latest violence against the country’s largest minority is the northern state of Uttarakhand. It is ruled by the Indian People’s Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is aiming to secure a third term in office in the upcoming vote.

On Thursday last week, the administration of the city of Haldwani razed a mosque with an attached Koran school to the ground with bulldozers. Apparently it was built on state property despite the lack of approval. However, the legal issue is still being heard by the highest court in Uttarakhand. When angry residents tried to prevent the demolition, emergency services used live ammunition against them, leaving five people dead. A state of emergency was declared over Haldwani. Police entered Muslim homes, attacked family members, including women, demolished property, and captured several men.

When a journalist from the news site Scroll.in visited Haldwani at the weekend, emergency services denied him access to the Muslim-inhabited Banbhoolpura district. Nevertheless, he went in and found locked houses and destroyed vehicles, while the residents no longer dared to go out on the streets. Many have already fled to other states.

Bulldozing the mosque is not the only anti-Muslim move by the Uttarakhand government. According to dpa, a law was passed in the state one day before the mosque was demolished, which, on the one hand, makes the cohabitation of unmarried people dependent on whether they receive official approval. On the other hand, it does not prohibit polygamy, which was previously permitted for Indian Muslims, for other Indians. The thrust is clear: under the motto “equal rights for all” the aim is to create a mood against Muslims. At the same time, legal options are created to take action against them.

This is not new in India. Rather, it has long been the recipe for success of Modi’s Hindu nationalists, especially before elections, to turn the country’s different population groups against each other and at the same time present themselves as defenders of the rights of the Hindu majority. This had already worked perfectly in 2002, when Modi was still Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat and allowed pogroms against Muslims to take place for weeks, whereupon he emerged as the radiant winner of the election at that time.

However, a polarization of the population and depoliticization of the election campaign is urgently needed this year. Farmer protests are currently being revived in India, as they completely paralyzed the metropolis of Delhi a few years ago. In India, too, fueling so-called ethnic or religious conflicts is a proven means of defusing and diverting legitimate social protest.

On Monday evening it was announced that Germany has the fourth highest rate of school dropouts among all EU countries, with only Hungary, Spain and Romania performing worse.

For almost two decades, the education ministers have drastically “underestimated” the need for educators, which is now taking its toll in the form of a historic teacher shortage.

OECD Education Director Andreas Schleicher researched the causes in two interviews. Quote: “To be honest, I have little sympathy for teachers who only insist that they are overworked.” Furthermore, their job is “financially attractive, but not intellectually attractive.”

The average school dropout rate in the EU improved from 10.5 to 9.6 percent from 2018 to 2022. In 2018, the Federal Republic of Germany was still above the line with 10.3 percent, but things have been going downhill since 2019. Germany was already in fourth-to-last place in 2021. “This is a sad revelation of German education policy,” said Bundestag member Nicole Gohlke(Die Linke). “Neither the federal government nor the Conference of Ministers of Education are able to decouple educational opportunities from the economic and social status of the family.” And further: “A completely overburdened and underfunded education system is simply not a recipe for success.”

Bundestag member Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU) immediately called for even more money for rearmament in the form of a higher “special fund”.

“It’s completely clear that we need 300 billion instead of 100 billion so that the Bundeswehr becomes combat-ready,” he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Tuesday. It must also be ensured that this money is not “misused” to plug budget holes. Of course, he wants to stick to the two percent target set by NATO in parallel with the special fund: “This is only possible with re-prioritization and clear structural reforms.”

FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr said: “If we succeed in generating more growth, we will be able to invest more money in defense on a long-term basis.” That has already worked in the past: “The Cold War was there back then too won because the West was economically much stronger. We must therefore do everything we can to become competitive again.«

Andreas Schwarz (SPD) advocated in the SZ for permanently excluding defense spending from the so-called debt brake: “Excluding all defense costs from the debt brake would definitely be attractive.” In this context, he particularly emphasized civil protection: "We need much more cyber defense , bunkers, mobile operating rooms, hospital supplies.«

Another Social Democrat has the home front in mind: The federal military commissioner, Eva Högl, wants a “serious and open discussion of concrete ideas and concepts” on the subject of compulsory military service, as she wrote in a guest article for the Table Media portal published on Monday. She suggested the formation of a “citizens’ council” and suggested a “social year” based on the Swedish model, because “everyone should get involved in our society for a while.” In order to make “the Bundeswehr omnipresent” and anchor it “firmly in the middle of our society,” “all young people should receive mail from the Bundeswehr once,” because “then everyone would actively engage with the Bundeswehr.”

Katarina Barley, SPD top candidate for the European elections. In an interview with the Tagesspiegel published on Tuesday, she expressed the view that the EU nuclear bomb could become an issue “on the way to a European army.”

In light of Barley’s comments, Fabio De Masi, the EU’s leading candidate for the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht party, called for the European elections to be a “vote on this madness.” Janine Wissler, co-chair of the Left Party, explained the demands of Kiesewetter and Barley: “The rearmament fantasies of Ampel and the CDU have apparently lost all measure.” In this context, she also spoke out in favor of a “special fund,” “but not for new weapons , but for a sustainable country with good schools, roads and rails.”

7. Remove enemies of the constitution from the public service

We must protect our democracy – also from within. The reform of federal disciplinary law is an important building block in making our constitutional state more resilient and in clearly showing that the public service does not tolerate extremists in its own ranks.

In order to significantly speed up the procedures, all disciplinary measures, including status-related removals and other status-relevant disciplinary measures, will in future be imposed by disciplinary order. The lengthy disciplinary action procedure, in which the employer had to apply to the court for status-relevant disciplinary measures, is no longer necessary.

A standard example of a serious official offense is also being introduced in the event of membership in a party declared unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court or in an incontestably banned association or a substitute organization for such a party or association.

Furthermore, the range of duties for political civil servants will be expanded to the extent that they must commit themselves to the free democratic basic order in the sense of the Basic Law through their entire behavior, even during their temporary retirement.

The second situation report “Right-wing extremists, ‘Reich citizens’ and ‘self-administrators’ in security authorities” was presented in mid-May 2022. This report draws a comprehensive picture of suspected cases in the federal and state security authorities regarding activities from the right-wing extremist or “Reichsbürger” and “self-administrator” milieu. The management report is updated regularly and gradually expanded.

Next Steps: • The reform of federal disciplinary law will come into force on April 1, 2024 and must then be applied consistently. • The next situation report will include the phenomenon of delegitimization of the state relevant to constitutional protection. Its release is scheduled for the second quarter of 2024.