“This cell was particularly serious,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a terrorism researcher at the Counter Extremism Project who keeps tabs on the digital accounts of the Base. “It should be noted that the group’s cell in Spain had its own public Telegram channel, which is unusual, where they repeatedly called on others to join the group, shared photos of weapons training and urged militant action.”

"Pickpockets, scammers and con artists are stealing money from the pockets of Berliners and especially our unsuspecting tourists," reads the call for a demonstration on the Telegram channel of the far-right German Youth Voran. However, the demonstration was registered by the Berlin branch of Heimat - formerly the NPD - as the police reported on request. The youth organization of the neo-Nazi party, the Young Nationalists, are also mentioned in the call. The campaign demonstrates the now close connection between older neo-Nazi cadres and young right-wing extremists. Political scientist Alexander Ritzmann [CEP Senior Advisor] sees this alliance as a result of the crisis that Die Heimat has been in for years. This is expressed above all in declining membership figures. Deutsche Jugend Voran, on the other hand, which was founded last year, was also looking for orientation.

“Intelligence agencies want to be aware of extremist networks that exist in their countries,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a terrorism analyst at the Counter Extremism Project, about active clubs, “their potential for current or future violence, and what links they may have to other movements and individuals, both domestically and internationally.” Already, there’s been evidence of that international coordination coming to light. “The neo-Nazi skinhead group the Hammerskins has had members in both the US and Canada, and more recently, the accelerationist groups the Atomwaffen Division and the Base have had members in both countries,” said Fisher-Birch, referring to two other groups that had transnational criminal networks.