Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has promised swift measures to curb neo-Nazi extremists in the new federal states which were formerly East Germany.
Racist violence has been on the rise in those areas, aimed chiefly at guest workers, people seeking asylum in Germany and foreigners in general.
The minister admitted during a visit to the Berlin Jewish community that the office dealing with political extremists has been ineffective and will have to be strengthened.
Schaeuble said the office would be assigned experts from former West Germany to help it cope with the basic task of gathering reliable data on neo-Nazi groups.
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