NSU investigation committee concludes with parliamentary debate and apologies

The state parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has concluded its discussion of the final report from the NSU investigation committee. The committee's work spanned four and a half years, involving 123 sessions and over 240 hours of testimony from 86 witnesses and 11 experts.

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We had police investigations that for a very long time and very concentrated did not look at racist motives.

The comprehensive final report, which runs to approximately 3,000 pages, includes recommendations that were adopted on Thursday with support from the SPD, Left Party, and Greens. Interior Minister Christian Pegel (SPD) reiterated apologies to the families of the victims of the far-right terrorist group NSU.

Pegel acknowledged significant failures in past police investigations, stating they did not focus on racist motives for a long time. Instead, investigations often centered on alleged organized crime, and at times, relatives or close associates were considered suspects. He recognized the profound injustice this caused to the victims' families.

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Instead, it was for a long time about alleged organized crime. At times, relatives or people in the immediate environment were considered suspects for a long time.

The minister also commented on the nature of the NSU's actions, describing how individuals forming a terrorist organization to "arbitrarily execute people across the country in the most brutal, beastly way" and commit bank robberies to fund their activities was "almost beyond imagination" at the time. The NSU is responsible for ten murders between 2000 and 2007, targeting eight Turkish-born individuals, one Greek-born small business owner, and a police officer. The group also carried out numerous robberies and bombings.

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This is a level of injustice that, from the perspective of the relatives, is rightly perceived as deeply connected to state action.

Additionally, the investigation committee directed criticism towards the Federal Prosecutor General regarding investigations into the far-right group "Nordkreuz." Lawmakers felt that investigative possibilities were not fully exhausted, with the State Criminal Police Office of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern having advocated for expanding investigations to include the charge of forming a terrorist organization.

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That people form a terrorist organization to execute people across the entire country in the most brutal, beastly way, that they commit bank robberies to finance this terrorist organization, that was, according to Pegel, "almost beyond imagination" at the time.