Earlier this year, Germany's family and youth minister Kristina Schroeder pledged to delegate two million euros ($2.7 million) to combat left-wing extremism in 2010, after an interior ministry report showed that left-wing violence is on the rise in Germany.

"The figures for politically motivated crime reported in 2009 are anything but gratifying," commented Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere as the report emerged.

The new figures showed that politically motivated crime increased about 20 percent in 2009 over the previous year, reaching a total of 33,917 cases. The largest increase was in violence by left-wing extremists, whose actions climbed by 40 percent, with 9,375 reported crimes.

Changing tactics

The rise in radical left-wing violence is due partly to a change in the group's strategy, said Dr. Viola Neu, an expert on political extremism at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

"They have started to seek fights with the police," Neu told Deutsche Welle. "They have also increased the amount of property damage, most often by burning cars, which this group views as a symbol of the oppressive class system."

The report found that more than 500 cars were destroyed by arson in Berlin and Hamburg alone in 2009.

Smaller problems

Unlike right-wing crimes, which are often targeted against a specific group of people, most left-wing crimes are carried out against objects, buildings or, less commonly, against representatives of the state.

Of over 9,000 acts of left-wing violence last year, about half were directed against police officers, while almost all other attacks were against members of the far right.

The focus of left-wing violence is often used to minimize the problem, says Neu. "Left-wing crimes are still considered relatively harmless by much of society. There isn't much of a feeling that these are real crimes against people and the state," she said.

Analysis first

The government currently spends about 24 million euros a year for programs that fight extremism, and Schroeder's extra two million has been set aside to combat left-wing extremism alone.

But Stefan Ruppert of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), coalition partners to Schroeder's Christian Democrats, believes it is important to analyze what is actually going on among leftists before extra money gets spent.

"There are so many different things happening in the leftist scene," Ruppert told Deutsche Welle. "There are people coming from former communist parties - younger people, older people, academics in university towns, and people with problems or who can't find work."

Ruppert added that it would be a mistake to assume that the tactics that worked against neo-nazis will also work against violent leftists.

Small problems must not be ignored

Ruppert points out that right-wing violence is still a bigger problem than left-wing extremism. Overall, the number of offenses by right-wing extremists - 19,468 in 2009 - is still twice as high as the number of radical left-wing offenses.

But Neu says that while violence takes different forms with left and right extremists, she considers the potential danger to be similar. "We often hear the phrase 'only property damage,' but when you're incinerating cars, innocent people can also get hurt," she said.

Ruppert admitted that left-wing extremism should not be ignored, even if it is comparatively less important. "We can't look away even if a problem is smaller. We have to find a solution."

Author: Sarah Harman
Editor: Ben Knight