Photo: Stefan Sauer/DPAGermany's defence minister on Sunday vowed zero tolerance for far-right extremists in the military amid a widening scandal over a soldier who allegedly plotted an attack which he planned to blame on refugees. "We can tolerate many things, but not political extremism, right-wing or religiously motivated extremism," the minister, Ursula von der Leyen, told public broadcaster ZDF. The scandal widened after news magazine Der Spiegel reported the suspect had expressed far-right views in a 2014 academic paper, but that no disciplinary action was taken against him. The military intelligence service is currently investigating around 280 cases of suspected far-right sympathisers in the German armed forces, the report said. He had registered himself at a German refugee shelter and even launched a request for political asylum, said the prosecution statement.

Source: The Local May 01, 2017 01:18 UTC