The Reichsbürger are not a single group. For the German secret services they are anti-state extremists. Analyst Hans Jakob Schindler [CEP Senior Director] draws a profile of them. Authorities estimate 2,000 Reichsbürger but the real number may be higher. Many have gun licenses, some are former military or members of the police force and some are ready for battle. This is the case of the group led by the self-styled Prince of Reus, dismantled in December 2022, while preparing an armed coup. 130 searches and 25 arrests, the largest anti-terrorism operation in recent history in Germany. A parallel reality that has become a concrete threat.

TV interview (in German) with CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler on arrest warrant for suspected Kremlin saboteurs in Germany 

Three Ukrainians are said to have agreed to carry out attacks on freight transport in Germany . The Federal Prosecutor's Office accuses them of acting as agents for the purpose of sabotage – and has had them arrested.
There is suspicion that Russian government agencies are behind the attacks. Intelligence expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project in New York and Berlin assesses the situation live on ZDFheute and explains Russia's tactics.

The German security authorities repeatedly stated that many of these women did not want to return to Germany. However, a paper by researcher Sofia Koller from the international non-profit organization "Counter Extremism Project" from February 2024 shows that several women did want to return even then. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, around 40 percent of the approximately 1,150 people who traveled from Germany to Syria or Iraq returned to Germany, around 25 percent of whom were women. The security authorities assume that a smaller proportion of the returnees continue to hold Salafist-jihadist views. The Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution's 2023 report states that this applies to two of the 16 returnees in Bavaria.

Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director, CEP is interviewed by The Bayerischer Rundfunk on the planned extradition of an Islamist preacher to Yemen.

Dr Hans-Jacob Schindler on Russian interference in terrorist attacks in Germany about the need to regulate social media platforms in a more strict way, requiring them to pro-actively cooperate with law enforcement in Europe (starts 19.39).

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed: "The suspected driver in the Mannheim shooting rampage that left two people dead is a German from Ludwigshafen with a criminal record. The authorities are currently assuming that the 40-year-old has a mental illness. Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler with an assessment."

"Phoenix moderator Hans-Werner Fittkau speaks with Hans-Jakob Schindler, terrorism expert at the Counter Extremism Project, about today's incident in Mannheim on March 3, 2025."