Extremism 2024 monitoring report published
Since 2010, the Liechtenstein Institute has been commissioned by the government's Commission for the Protection against Violence to compile annual documentation on extremist incidents, events and developments in Liechtenstein, insofar as these are reflected in the Liechtenstein print media ("Liechtensteiner Vaterland", "Wirtschaft Regional", "Liewo Sonntagszeitung").
While the scope of the report was initially limited to right-wing extremism, the mandate was expanded in 2015 to include all forms of extremism. Extremist acts are defined as those that threaten the very substance of the state order.
Although no major incidents of violence with an extremist background were recorded in 2024, the reporting year must be described as challenging. The security situation in Europe has changed significantly since Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. With the attack on Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas and the subsequent acts of war, particularly in the Gaza Strip, the situation has also worsened in Liechtenstein. For 2024, the National Police's crime statistics record three cases of politically and religiously motivated discrimination under Section 283 of the Criminal Code. In July 2024, the websites of the government and the national administration were temporarily unavailable due to hacker attacks by a pro-Russian group. Also noteworthy is a right-wing extremist lecture series with German speakers planned for 2024, which was prevented by the Liechtenstein municipalities concerned. It is also interesting to note that the Threat Management Unit received seven reports of threatening behavior towards an authority or institution in 2024. In contrast, there were no specific left-wing extremist incidents in Liechtenstein in the reporting year.
The monitoring report also covers the measures and campaigns of national anti-extremism actors such as the government's Commission for the Protection against Violence with the Extremism Expert Group, the National Police (Whistleblower Platform, Threat Management Unit, Digital Crime Unit), the Victim Support Office, the Equal Opportunities Unit in the Office of Social Services and the Association for Human Rights. The relevant institutions in Liechtenstein have a zero-tolerance approach to extremism. Measures and campaigns against extremism in the 2024 reporting year include, in particular, the further investigation of the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Day against Racism, the "Traffic Signs of Justice" campaign, the government's integration strategy and Holocaust Remembrance Day.
