German authorities said today they had launched a major police operation against what they said was a network of conspiracy and extremism across the country and declared the dissolution of the "largest organization" accused of "attacking the liberal democratic order."
Searches have been launched in seven regions targeting the "Kingdom of Germany" (Königreich Deutschland) association, the Interior Ministry said of the group with around 6.000 supporters who "deny the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany and reject its legal system."
The association was banned today because "its goals and activities are contrary to the criminal law and constitutional order and the idea of understanding between peoples," the ministry said, adding that the ban also applies to "numerous organizations associated with this association."
The German federal prosecutor's office announced that four people had been arrested, three of whom were founders of an association that had been establishing "pseudo-state structures and institutions" for about ten years, creating a banking and insurance system, a registration office with fictitious personal documents and its own currency.
The ministry considers them "dangerous extremists," and the association is part of the German "Reich Citizens" (Reichsbürger) conspiratorial movement that rejects the legitimacy of the modern German Republic.
They believe in the continuation of the German Reich before World War I, in the form of a monarchy. Several groups of sympathizers have decreed the creation of their own mini-states.
According to German intelligence services, the movement had around 2022 members in 23.000.
The ministry said today that the "Kingdom of Germany" has been expanding for years
The new government coalition led by conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which took office last week, is facing a rise in right-wing extremist ideologies.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is now the largest opposition force in parliament after achieving a good result in the parliamentary elections held in February.
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