Islamic Terrorists Likely Infiltrated Europe Through Ukraine Refugee Scheme, Admits German Spy Chief

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has admitted that Islamist terrorists have likely infiltrated the European Union through the Ukraine refugee scheme, as a terror cell believed to have come to Germany from Kyiv goes to trial.

In its annual report on extremist threats, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic spying branch, said that the threat of jihadist terrorism remains high, with around 27,200 suspected Islamic extremists in the country.

Head of the BvF Thomas Haldenwang admitted that it is likely that Islamic terror groups used schemes for Ukrainian refugees to sneak sleeper cells into the European Union.

Haldenwang highlighted the threat posed by the Central Asian ISIS branch Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISPK)/(ISIS-K), the group believed to be responsible for the Moscow concert hall attack that killed 145 and injured hundreds more in March carried out by gunmen from Tajikistan.

“The ISPK has also managed to bring followers to Western Europe, possibly via the wave of refugees from Ukraine, who are now staying here in various Western European countries,” the spy chief admitted in comments reported by Der Tagesspiegel.

Nevertheless, the Angela Merkel-appointed spy chief maintained that the largest danger posed to German democracy was from “right-wing extremism”.

According to his report, There were around 40,600 suspected right-wing extremists, an estimated 14,500 of whom are believed to be willing to use violence. Meanwhile, the BvF said that there were around 37,000 suspected left-wing extremists, with around 11,200 capable of taking violent actions.

Meanwhile, the domestic intel agency also said that there was a 56.6 per cent increase in reported antisemitic incidents in Germany last year, with a 45 per cent increase in violent anti-Jewish offences.

The admission about the Islamist threat comes amid a debate in Germany surrounding opening up deportations of illegal migrants and foreign criminals back to countries like Afghanistan and Syria which have been prevented in recent years as they were deemed to be unsafe nations to send migrants back to.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that his government would start to look to restart deportations to such countries earlier this month following the mass stabbing which saw a police officer slain at an anti-Islamification demonstration in Mannheim by a failed asylum seeker from Afghanistan.

“It outrages me when someone who has sought protection here commits the most serious crimes. Such criminals should be deported, even if they come from Syria and Afghanistan,” the chancellor said.

“Serious criminals and terrorist threats have no place here… In such cases, Germany’s security interests outweigh the interests of the perpetrator.”

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Monday that her department, which is responsible for immigration in Germany, has begun efforts to begin deportations to Afghanistan and Syria as well as to Uzbekistan.

Alleged Islamists taking advantage of the enormous movement of Ukrainians to enter Europe is said to be at the heart of a terror case ongoing in German courts. As reported, authorities arrested a so-called terror cell on accusations of seeking to target a female-led mosque in Berlin known as a liberal safe haven for Muslim gays in the German capital city.

The suspected Islamic extremists, comprised of migrant men from Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan, are believed to have entered Germany amid the mass flow of refugees into the European Union from Ukraine following the Russian invasion of the country in 2022.

Some of the alleged extremists are said to have contact with successful Islamic State terrorists in other parts of the world and one of those arrested is reported to have previously led an ISIS terror cell in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

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