After the arrests of members of a far-right organisation in Germany who officials claim were plotting a violent overthrow of the state, German legislators are demanding a review of security preparations at the Bundestag lower house of parliament.
German authorities said on Thursday that 23 people should be held for questioning while they look into the group. According to German prosecutors, one of those held is a former lawmaker from the far-right Alternative For Germany (AfD).
Konstantin von Notz, a Green politician and chairman of the parliamentary committee that monitors the intelligence agencies, claimed that the security procedures of the Bundestag were not designed for “enemies of the constitution” to be elected to parliament.
He told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, “We have to increase the protection concept for the Bundestag without sabotaging the everyday life of democratic lawmaker.”
The AfD has spoken out against the far-right group’s actions and voiced faith in the authorities’ ability to clarify the matter as soon and thoroughly as possible.
According to Funke media group, Social Democrat senator Sebastian Hartmann said, “The Bundestag should also review its security concept. Personally, I feel safe, but my confidence is not boundless.”
Investigators have found evidence that some members of the organisation planned to attack the German parliament and seize legislators; many of the group’s members were members of the movement Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich).
The Reichsbuerger does not consider the current German state to be legitimate. Among them are monarchists, Nazi sympathisers, and people who insist the German government is occupying the country by force.
Bundestag Vice President Katrin Goering-Eckardt told the Funke media group, “For the Bundestag, we will carefully examine which security measures we need to adapt.”