BERLIN, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The deputy chairman of the German police union (GdP) confirmed on Monday that some employees of the Federal Police sympathized with right-wing national parties.
"Many civil servants feel that something has gone wrong, which is expressed in sympathies for the right-wing national party spectrum," GdP deputy chairman Joerg Radek told the German newspaper Rheinische Post.
The German government, Radek complained, had never explained why from 2015 onwards, despite the significant deployment of the Federal Police at the border, the officials had to deviate from their legal mandate to prevent unauthorized entry into Germany.
"As a result, federal police officers have developed sympathies for the AfD. One late political consequence of this is that federal police are now running for office in state elections for the AfD," added Radek.
Radek also criticized that the government's appreciation "for the work of the Federal Police" had not been noticeable for many years.
Only now, in the last three years, had there been a rethink and an increase in the number of jobs, although this "is too late for the loss of confidence."
The background to Radek's comments was a warning issued by German conservative CDU politician Friedrich Merz against policemen and soldiers in Germany shifting towards the right-wing populist AfD party.
"We are apparently losing parts of the Bundeswehr to the AfD. We are losing parts of the Bundespolizei to the AfD," Merz told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag on Sunday.
To counter the trend, the CDU needed to be a party that stood resolutely behind Germany's security authorities, stressed Merz. "Only with clear support from politics can they successfully fight any political extremism."
Criticism of Merz's comments came from German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who accused Merz of using the federal police as a "stepping stone for his political career planning".
Similarly, German Minister for Defense Ursula von der Leyen emphasized that policemen and soldiers deserved more esteem and not speculation.
