Fighting Racism

According to government officials, about 80 percent of the roughly 4,500 initiatives established since 2001 as part of an awareness campaign against racism and intolerance have proved successful. The 190 million euros ($246 million) invested have not gone to waste.

"We can be proud of what we have achieved," Germany's deputy labor minister, Kajo Wasserhövel, told reporters this week.

However, Stephen Meister, who campaigns against right-wing extremism in the east German town of Wurzen, said it was difficult to assess the success of these government-funded projects.

Germany's extreme-right crime rate is growing

Clearly, xenophobic extremism in Germany has not been eradicated. Indeed, in some parts of the formerly Communist East, it is on the increase and the amount of extreme right-wing crimes has risen.

In July, the diary of Anne Frank, who died at the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, was burned by neo-Nazis in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Earlier in November, a Jewish memorial was desecrated in the town of Frankfurt (Oder), also in the East.

Support for the far-right on the up

"We cannot be proud of the regional situation," Wasserhövel said.

The leader of the opposition Free Democrats (FDP), Guido Westerwelle, meanwhile told Reuters that political support for the far-right had increased as a result of the current government's policies.

Far-right parties now hold seats in the parliaments of three of Germany's previously Communist states as well as in Bremen in the West.

The extreme National Democratic Party (NPD) gained representation this September in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, having garnered over seven percent of the votes.

Boosting civil society

There has been considerable debate in recent months about which strategies to adopt and how to finance education campaigns to curb these worrying developments. Government officials announced on Tuesday that in 2007 a further 24 million euros would be allocated to initiatives against racism and right-wing extremism. Five million euros will go towards resources for people who have been affected by racist crimes or are particularly vulnerable.

The government hopes especially to strengthen civil society and democracy in those regions where right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis have managed to form flourishing networks and hate crimes are being committed.

The intention is not to replace regional and state initiatives such as youth work but to supplement them, said Hermann Kues, a deputy in the Ministry for Family. He added that the government wanted to support those who were already committed to combating extremism.

"So many people demonstrate strong personal courage," he said. "We have to support these people and help them continue their work."