Overview
- Berlin’s Verfassungsschutz dissolved its standalone left‑wing extremism unit in summer 2025 and reassigned the work to a department that also handles espionage and foreign‑related extremism.
- Agency chief Michael Fischer defends the move as a holistic approach tailored to recent shifts in the scene and says the area was actually strengthened with the same or more case officers.
- Calls for tougher monitoring intensified after the power‑grid attack in southwest Berlin, with Justice Senator Felor Badenberg arguing that left‑wing extremism is being downplayed.
- Skepticism within the governing coalition centers on fears that the merger strains spy‑defense resources and blunts focused observation, as Greens lawmakers cite gaps in probing the so‑called Vulkangruppen.
- Official reporting lists about 3,800 people in Berlin’s left‑wing extremist spectrum and notes 497 offenses in the first half of 2025, including 146 violent acts, as authorities also track growing overlaps with anti‑Israel groups since October 2023.