Extremists hinder German flood relief

FAR-RIGHT activists are hampering Germany’s flood recovery efforts by using the crisis to spread anti-covid propaganda, police have said.

Yesterday, a far-right group picketed a mobile vaccination bus in Bad Neuenahr-ahrweiler in western Germany to warn of “lethal syringes”.

Earlier this week, another group purported to be the police in Koblenz and broadcast on loud speakers stating that they would be shortly leaving the flood site.

The police were forced to clarify on Twitter that they had no such plans and “will be here the whole time”.

The Koblenz police department said that while the incident was “isolated”, it may have contributed to confusion among flood victims at a time when they were vulnerable.

Police have also closed down a family support centre in Ahrweiler – the hardest hit region – that was set up by members of the country’s far-right Querdenker movement “in order to avoid any risk to the well-being of children”.

A spokesman for the interior ministry in Rhineland-palatinate said it was a “known and common pattern” for Right-wing extremists to “exploit” crisis situations by trying to come across as “carers on site”. More than 177 people have been confirmed dead across Germany, with the national weather service predicting more rain and storms in hard-hit regions this weekend.

The weather service said storms were likely from noon tomorrow, expanding to large parts of Rhineland-palatinate later in the day.

On Wednesday, Germany’s federal cabinet approved a €400 million (£342million) aid package for flood victims, with a multibillion euro rebuilding package still to come.

The extent of the damage has yet to be determined “but it is immense”, Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a news conference in Berlin yesterday.

She noted that Germany’s railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, had said 600km (373 miles) of track were affected. “We need patience to repair all this damage,” she said.