Abroad, too, the large-scale raid by the German Ministry of the Interior against a “rightwing conspiracy” triggered a curious response. Leading US media outlets were dismayed at the “right-wing extremist” threat in Germany, with the White House signalling support for the crack-down.
The New York Times noted in a headline: “Germany arrests 25 people suspected of plotting government overthrow.” NBC also reported about a “right-wing extremist coup” and the Washington Post detailed the “German coup attempt”. CBS News hinted at ties to America’s “QAnon” group which has been “accused of plotting to overthrow the government”.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre read from what appeared to be a prepared text: “We applaud the German government and its law enforcement agencies and special forces for their zeal in countering violent extremism and for the safety of their citizens and… their government institutions.” When asked, the spokeswoman said that US authorities would support German law enforcement agencies if necessary.
The echo from Russia was quite different. There, former Russian President Medvedev, currently Deputy Chairman of the National Security Council, commented on his Telegram channel: “It is all pure provocation and conspiracy theory.”
Medvedev evidently sees the raid as a staged PR effort, and a clear indication of how sclerotic and clownish the administration in Germany has become. “After all, these half-baked conspirators are right: Germany does not have full sovereignty on its soil. The decisions about German energy, industry and defense are made by the ‘American deep state’, not by a ‘liver sausage’ [an insult against Chancellor Scholz levelled by the former Ukrainian ambassador, ed.].
“Naturally, they hint at a connection with the Russians. How else? All evil conspiracies, world wars, destructive earthquakes and deadly epidemics are from us,” Medvedev added dryly.
In Germany, too, some observers were amazed that leading German media such as Bild and Spiegel reported live on the events and had apparently been informed in advance. The former Bild editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt tweeted: “Inconvenient truth: if almost all editorial offices in the country know in advance about a secret operation, it is not a secret operation, but a PR operation.”