far-right extremism
Ultranationalist, anti-democratic ideology expressed through violence and terror
Far-right extremism denotes political attitudes and milieus situated at the outermost end of the political right, typically characterised by ultranationalism, anti-democratic views, racism, xenophobia or antisemitism, combined with a willingness to use violence or unlawful means to achieve political goals. In the context in which the concept is used in true crime and the justice system, it covers not merely extreme political opinions, but concrete criminal conduct motivated by far-right ideology. This includes terrorist attacks, politically motivated murder, attempted coups and organised extremist activity linked to Nazi, National Socialist or related anti-democratic worldviews.
Cases such as Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011, and the NSU case in Germany, where Beate Zschäpe and the underlying terrorist group Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund were behind a series of murders and bomb attacks, illustrate how far-right extremism can manifest as organised, ideologically motivated terror, drawing state attention and resulting in massive trials. The same pattern appears in the case of Stephan Ernst, in which the German politician Walter Lübcke was shot and killed in 2019, and in the Patriotische Union case concerning a planned attempt at a coup d'état in Germany: individuals or networks acting on the conviction that the existing democratic system is illegitimate and should be overthrown by force.
The concept is not defined in any separate provision of Danish law. It is used as an analytical and professional designation in authorities' threat assessments, intelligence reports and legal documents in order to classify the motive behind specific offences, including terrorism, homicide and attempted insurrection. The criminal conduct itself is prosecuted under the relevant penal provisions of the respective national legal systems — for example terrorism provisions or provisions on intentional homicide.
