Sharp Increase in Right-Wing Extremist Crimes in Austria
In the first half of 2025, 787 crimes were recorded, representing an increase of 41.5 percent compared to the same period of the previous year (556 in the first half, 1,486 in 2024), even though the numbers were already at a record high in 2024. Particularly noteworthy: 91 percent of the perpetrators are male.
Vienna, Upper and Lower Austria lead in right-wing extremist crimes
Of the 787 crimes, 21 are identified as anti-Semitic and eleven as Islamophobic in the response to the inquiry. The latter, in particular, are significantly more than in the previous year (three). Reports under the Prohibition Act have also increased significantly, from 577 to 785. In the comparison of federal states, Vienna is at the top (236), followed by Upper Austria (171) and Lower Austria (103). The response to the inquiry shows that 27 percent of right-wing extremist crimes occur on the internet (212). "The current figures once again underscore the alarming trend of recent years. We have a problem with massively increasing right-wing extremism - online and on the streets. Particularly concerning is that young people are increasingly becoming the target group of right-wing extremist agitation," said the inquirer and SPÖ spokesperson for remembrance culture, Sabine Schatz, to the APA.
Action plan against right-wing extremist crimes to be introduced in autumn
To counter this development, a comprehensive package of measures is needed, including prevention programs in schools and youth facilities, increased support for victims, strategies to combat online hate, and an exit program. "Only with a determined and coordinated approach can we succeed in drying up the breeding ground for right-wing extremism," said Schatz. A National Action Plan against Right-Wing Extremism, which the federal government had committed to implementing in the government program, is currently being "intensively worked on." In the summer, SPÖ federal manager Klaus Seltenheim expressed confidence that the Ministry of the Interior would present it in the autumn. SPÖ State Secretary Jörg Leichtfried, who is based there, also expected an agreement soon.
DÖW calls for more speed in the fight against right-wing extremist crimes
The demand to accelerate the NAP was expressed by the head of the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance, Andreas Kranebitter, already in the summer during an interview with the APA and he renewed it in light of the figures published today. "It is high time to act on one of the most pressing problems of our society. (...) We must not get used to the increase in right-wing extremist acts. Every act committed harms people, every single one is one too many," said Kranebitter in a statement. A long-term comparison also shows problematic trends: in 2005, the number of right-wing extremist crimes was still at 205, according to the head of the DÖW, which publishes the annual report on right-wing extremism.
Karner: "We are taking consistent action against extremism"
Karner himself interpreted the figures as a result of consistent police work: "The current figures show once again: Police and intelligence services are taking consistent action against all forms of extremism. Just two days ago, a massive and consistent strike was carried out against right-wing extremists. 25 house searches with numerous seizures were the result," he said in a statement to the APA. During the focus operation on Tuesday, the house of neo-Nazi Gottfried Küssel in Vienna-Leopoldstadt was among those searched.
Mauthausen Committee criticizes politics
The Mauthausen Committee Austria sees it differently. The police successes of recent days should not obscure the fact "that politics has still not managed to implement a National Action Plan, as was already decided by the black-green federal government and also agreed in the coalition agreement of the ÖVP-SPÖ-NEOS federal government," it says in a statement. Chairman Willi Mernyi states: "The extremely increased right-wing extremist crimes are a clear result of the lack of response from politics, which is why a national action plan must be implemented immediately."
(APA/Red)
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