Far-right extremists blamed for surge in anti-Semitic crimes in Germany

MUNICH — Right-wing extremists were to blame for a large rise in anti-Semitic crimes in Germany last year, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Wednesday following the release of the country's annual crime report.

"The biggest threat is still the threat from the right," Seehofer said, adding that crimes by right-wing extremists accounted for more than half of all politically motivated crimes.

Overall, the number of politically motivated crimes rose by 14 percent last year to 41,177, more than half of which were committed by far-right radicals, the report showed, although Seehofer said crimes by left-wing radicals had also jumped by 23 percent.