12/05/2016 16:40:20

Berlin (dpa) - Germany's domestic intelligence agency counted 15 concerts organized by right-wing extremists in the first three months of 2016, the highest number registered during that period in four years, national daily Die Welt reported on Thursday. The latest figure flags a growing trend after authorities noted last year that the number of far-right rock events had increased for the first time in years. Seventy-one far-right concerts took place across Germany in 2015, according to the report. Left Party politician Ulla Jelpke, who filed a parliamentary request for the government to reveal the statistics, warned that neo-Nazi gatherings "serve first of all the purpose of recruiting new 'comrades'." Jelpke compared the concerts to a kind of gateway drug in comments made to Die Welt. Last Saturday in the state of Thuringia, one of the most popular locations for far-right rockers, a neo-Nazi concert attracted around 3,500 people from across Germany and other European countries. # Notebook * * * * The following information is not intended for publication ## Editorial contacts - Reporting by: Stefan Voss - Editing by: Rachel More, +49 30 2852 31472,