Germany news: Politically-motivated crimes double in decade

Germany news: Politically-motivated crimes double in decade June 6, 2026What you need to know - Politically-motivated crimes reached a new high last year, Welt am Sonntag reported - Wadephul says Germany to work with Mexico to crack down on drug cartels - Germany's 18-year-old midfield star Lennart Karl is ruled out of the World Cup - Germany qualifies for the 2027 Women's World Cup - Bundeswehr Day expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors Read below for a roundup of news from Germany on June 6, 2026. Tired of missing our real-time updates? Click here to add us as a Preferred Source on Google. Then tap the "Star" or "Preferred" to keep DW News at the top of your feed Wadephul: Germany, Mexico to step up efforts to stop drugs from reaching Europe Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany planned to work more closely with Mexico to tackle organized crime, including drug cartels, to cut the spread of narcotics to Europe. "The significant rise in drug use in Germany and across Europe is a cause of great concern to us. That is why we must work together very closely on this,” Wadephul, who is on a two-day visit to Mexico, told journalists. "We are seeing Europe being virtually inundated by a wave of drugs originating from this region, not only from Mexico, but also from other Central and South American countries,” Wadephul said. "That is why it must be in our interest to strengthen security cooperation here," he added. Wadephul had said the fight against organized crime was at the top of the agenda for cooperation. According to DW correspondent Benjamin Alvarez, Wadephul also announced bids for non-permanent UN Security Council seats in 2035-36 and 2043-44 in Mexico City. This announcement comes just days after Berlin's defeat in the current race, when it received only 104 votes, falling short against Austria and Portugal. Report: Politically motivated crime hits new high in Germany Politically motivated crime in Germany reached a new high in 2025, according to a newspaper report. Welt am Sonntag reported that German states recorded at least 85,000 such crimes last year, up from 84,174 in 2024. Over the past 10 years, the number of these crimes has more than doubled, the newspaper reported, citing its own research. The data covered 15 of Germany's federal states, with only the figures from Rhineland-Palatinate, in the southwest, missing. WAS reported that the violent crimes labeled politically motivated were also on the rise, with more than 4,100 offenses recorded last year, including assault, arson and explosives offenses, as well as breach of the peace. The newspaper said that police had attributed the rise over the past year to the polarized German elections last year, alongside the conflicts in the Middle East. While more than half of all offenses were classified as right-wing extremism, there was a 35% rise in left-wing extremist crimes, which reached more than 13,000 cases. Welcome to our coverage Guten Morgen from DW in Bonn, on the banks of the Rhine River. Here in Germany, there has been a doubling in the number of politically motivated crimes over the past decade. While right-wing extremism is responsible for half of those offences, crimes by ultra-left-wing activists have risen sharply. Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has promised to work more closely with Mexico to combat organized crime, including drug cartels, responsible for the significant rise in drug use in Europe. As the countdown to the World Cup continues, Germany's teenage starlet Lennart Karl has been ruled out of the competition after sustaining an injury in training. Join us for the latest news from across Germany this weekend.