The (Old) New Normal in Germany

It appears that every few weeks, we have revelations of an element of the German state security apparatus with ties to Neo-Nazis or the far right.

In this case, it was a German commando (basically S.W.A.T) unit in Frankfurt, which has been disbanded over right-wing ties:

German authorities disbanded a Frankfurt police commando unit Thursday over the suspected far-right links of a group of active officers, the latest in a string of extremist-related scandals to blight the country's police and military.

Peter Beuth, interior minister for Hesse state, where Frankfurt is located, said “unacceptable misconduct” prompted the decision to close the unit. He also said superiors had turned a “blind eye.”

Hesse’s prosecutor on Wednesday said the office was investigating 20 officers from the force, with the majority suspected of sending messages in far-right chat groups, including Nazi symbols and “inciting content.” Three supervising officers were accused of failing to stop or report the exchanges. All but one of the 20 officers was on active duty.

The chat groups were uncovered after examining the phone of an officer suspected of possessing and distributing child pornography.

Pedophile German Neo-Nazis? That's like the worst law enforcement misconduct bingo card ever.

Germany’s Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has pushed back against assertions of structural racism or far-right sympathies in the country’s police forces. But he agreed to commission a study into the issue last year as pressure grew amid a slew of such cases.

The resurgence of Nazis in positions of authority in Germany is concerning, and there are definitely echoes from the past here.  

It's even more concerning given the hegemony that Germany has over the EU.