"Something's brewing": Interior Minister fears "demonstrations" against democracy

The rapidly rising prices threatened to hit people hard, especially in the east of the republic, warns Thuringia's Interior Minister Maier.

"Something's brewing": Interior Minister fears "demonstrations" against democracy

The rapidly rising prices threatened to hit people hard, especially in the east of the republic, warns Thuringia's Interior Minister Maier. There are indications that extremists want to mobilize protests. These should be promoted for an "authoritarian form of government".

The Thuringian interior minister Georg Maier has warned of massive protests in the east of the Federal Republic in view of inflation and the energy crisis. Something is currently brewing "that worries me," said the SPD politician to the "Welt". He fears that in the coming months "above all, extremist forces will mobilize onto the streets. At least that's what the findings of the security authorities indicate."

So-called Reich citizens or lateral thinkers were often behind this mobilization, said Maier. "These forces want to scare the population even more." But they are not concerned with legitimate protests against higher energy prices - "but with making contempt for the government and our democracy". People should be convinced "that there must be another, authoritarian form of government in Germany."

Maier considers the mobilization potential of such marches "greater than was the case with the Corona protests". There, too, anti-democratic narratives were already recognizable. "But in my opinion, these marches were only the overture to what the despisers of democracy are planning for this autumn and winter."

The social factor is the core element of the conflict, Maier said. "Everyone feels the crisis in their wallets." The differences between East and West also played a major role. They would become more evident in this acute position.

The crisis resilience is much lower in the east than in the west. "For many people, that means doing without. No or less vacation, no more going to the restaurant, no new purchases." In the West, it's easier to absorb "because there's more on the high side". "The consequences of the crisis are much more serious in the east than in the west," emphasized the interior minister. The federal government should therefore pay more attention to the social question.

Because of the rising prices for energy and food, politicians and experts expect riots and defamation. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser from the SPD recently criticized a video in which the kidnapping of Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck was staged by the Greens.