Germany military intelligence has opened an investigation into eight civilian employees of the armed forces suspected of belonging to the far-right “Reichsbuerger” movement that denies the existence of the modern German state.

“We don’t tolerate enemies of the constitution in the Bundeswehr,” Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Tuesday, referring to the armed forces.

The tip-off leading to the investigation came from the military, she added.

Members of the Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) do not recognise modern-day Germany as a legitimate state, and insist the former, far larger “Deutsche Reich” still exists despite Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War Two.

“It is very important to act wherever there is suspicion, no matter if we are talking about small or major cases,” Alexander Neu, a lawmaker from the opposition far-left Linke party, told Reuters.

Last week, German authorities uncovered a group of soldiers suspected of organising a chat group relating to anti-Semitism, right-wing extremism and pornography, according to a Defence Ministry document seen by Reuters.

Reuters