Thousands of people across Germany took to the streets for a fourth consecutive day to voice their opposition to the far-right populist AfD party, after politicians from the party met neo-Nazis to discuss a “master plan” for the mass deportation of asylum seekers. and German citizens of foreign origin.
There have been protests in Leipzig, Rostock, Essen and Berlin in recent days.
The AfD leadership has sought to distance itself from a November meeting on the outskirts of Potsdam, west of Berlin, which was revealed on Wednesday by the investigative journalism network Correctiv. However, some party members also attended the meeting and have since voiced their support for the ideas discussed.
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On Monday, party co-chair Alice Weidel announced that she had parted ways with her advisor Roland Hartwig after her attendance at the event was confirmed. Weidel said he had no knowledge of his involvement and did not support the AfD’s deportation plan.
Party members said Weidel’s decision was “wrong”, saying Hartwig, a former executive of the chemical company Bayer who served as an AfD MP for four years, was an important and respected member of the AfD and would continue to play an important role behind the scenes. It led to accusations that It was a tactical move to distance himself and the party from the incident.
Among the MPs who publicly expressed their support for the ideas discussed at the meeting was René Springer, the representative of the state of Brandenburg in the federal government. Regarding X, he stated that the plan was not a secret, but rather a promise that the AfD would fulfill if it came to power. “We will send foreigners back to their homeland. Millions of them. This is not a #secret plan. This is a promise,” he wrote.
German media did not hesitate to draw parallels between the Potsdam meeting and the infamous 1942 Wannsee conference, where senior Nazis and government officials met in a lakeside villa to discuss how to coordinate the implementation of the Nazis’ plan for mass destruction. Jews of Europe.
Wolfgang Thierse, the former speaker of the German parliament who is considered a moral authority in the country, has weighed in on an initiative to explore the possibility of shutting down the party on the grounds of unconstitutionality.
He also supported a petition seeking to revoke the fundamental rights of prominent party members considered unconstitutional. A petition specifically directed at Björn Höcke, group leader of the Thuringian AfD, has gained traction since the Potsdam meeting was announced, collecting more than 830,000 signatures by Tuesday.
Judicial representatives issued a joint statement on Monday condemning the meeting.
“What was dreamed of in a small circle in Potsdam in November is more than a terrifying vision. “More specifically, this is an attack on the constitution and the liberal constitutional state,” he said. German Judges Association, German Lawyers Association and four affiliated organisations.
Thierse told broadcaster DLF that a “shrug” was an inadequate response to the rise of the 11-year-old AfD, which has been rising in the polls in recent months.
“Our democracy is in a critical situation,” he said. “Some remind us of the events of 90 years ago. In 1930, the Nazi party had 14.15 percent and came to power three years later and abolished democracy.”
The European Parliament will debate the resurgence of neo-fascism across the continent on Tuesday evening after a last-minute agenda item was added to a chilling video from Italy showing hundreds of men giving a fascist salute earlier this month.
The debate was raised by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D). S&D leader Iratxe García said in a statement that his members were “outraged and saddened” by the images.
“The rise of neo-fascism is a dark cloud looming over some parts of Europe,” García said. “It is both unacceptable and worrying that we are still witnessing such scenes in 2024.”
García also took aim at Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni for his reaction to the issue. “What is even more worrying is the lack of results and the lack of a clear, decisive response from the prime minister,” he said. “Why did Meloni choose silence? Why didn’t he condemn these disturbing images?”
Parliament’s Renewing Europe group called on Meloni to condemn the actions depicted in the video.
“While the shocking ceremony in Italy has been witnessed before, it is indicative of a worrying rise of far-right groups across Europe,” the statement said.