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German flag - Source: Reuters -
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The number of right-wing extremist crimes increased significantly in Germany last year, intelligence officials said.
Around 20,000 extremist acts were recorded in 2008, a rise of 16% from the previous year, the domestic federal intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said in its 2008 report.
Violent right-wing extremist attacks rose by 6%.
"Fighting the threat from right-wing extremism is a priority," Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said at the presentation of the report, which said around 30,000 people are considered right-wing extremists in Germany.
The findings could further fan a debate among German politicians about whether to ban the National Democratic Party (NPD), which the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has described as racist, anti-Semitic and revisionist.
Efforts to ban the party failed in 2003 when judges at the country's highest court rejected the government's case after it emerged that some of the testimony was from government informants within the party.
Schaeuble said no new attempt to ban the NPD should be made until it was clear such efforts had a chance to succeed.
"If we launch procedures for a ban and they won't succeed, there is the risk that this will have a boomerang effect... and provide publicity for the NPD," he said.
The NPD has about 7,000 members and has made gains in local elections in east German regions, where unemployment is high.
Security officials have said they are concerned by the party's efforts to use the financial crisis in an attempt to win votes at state and federal elections later this year, arguing the turmoil proves the capitalist system has failed.
The party is not represented in the federal parliament but has deputies in state assemblies.
Spying on German firms
Presenting the 2008 security report, Schaeuble also said that some foreign intelligence agencies were stepping up their espionage efforts in Germany.
"Main actors of espionage activity in Germany are Russia and China," the report said, adding Internet attacks on the computer systems of German companies and government institutions had grown in significance.
"Given the targets chosen and the methods used, it's very likely that intelligence agencies are a driving force or are at least participating in many cases," the report said.
The 2007 report also highlighted spying by Russia and China.
Turning to the threat from militant Islamists, Schaeuble said officials were concerned about a rise of young people from Germany travelling to training camps in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
"Those who have been to camps are likely to support terrorist activities in their home countries," he said.
Recent threat videos on the Internet featuring German-speaking militants highlighted that "Islamist terrorism continues to threaten security in Germany", Schaeuble said.
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