Things couldn’t have gone better for the remigration activist: his popularity is increasing, he has the laughs on his side and at the same time is advertising his new book – everything that the “traffic light” didn’t want.
How dangerous is the Austrian Martin Sellner?
“We are approaching!” Martin Sellner tweeted on Monday around 4 p.m. as he drove towards the German border in a rental car. According to reports, the 35-year-old Austrian right-wing extremist should be banned from entering Germany. Despite numerous calls to German authorities, Sellner said he was unable to find out whether this was the case. He then simply drove off – and was initially arrested upon entry. He was allowed to enter almost an hour later.
At 5:25 p.m. Sellner started the live stream of his “escape” to Germany. His passenger was broadcasting live from the car. At 5:45 p.m., when crossing the border into Germany, the stream stopped. Around 11,000 spectators were excited. They fluctuated between outrage and jokes about the poor German internet. At around 6:12 p.m., a Sellner supporter reported on Telegram that Sellner was still in the police vehicle and was being checked. At 6:37 p.m. the police said there was nothing against him. A few minutes later, Sellner gave his first interview on German soil.
You don’t have to be a hussar to perform a hussar feat – sometimes it’s enough to walk across a bridge that a weak opponent has hastily built. Until recently, almost no one knew the supposedly dangerous Viennese, but soon everyone will know him, thanks to German authorities and the media and thanks to the high-profile debate about an entry ban against him. Things couldn’t have gone better for Sellner, as his new book is being published these days. Appropriately, it is called “Remigration. A suggestion”.
Sellner was one of the speakers at an alleged secret meeting in Potsdam at the end of November, he spoke about remigration. One of his positions is that a people is a community of descent and should not be mixed with foreign influences. He calls himself a “patriotic activist”.
The left-wing research network Correctiv first reported on the meeting and subsequently virtually all German media reported that the “secret plan” envisaged the mass expulsion of foreigners and even poorly integrated citizens. Suddenly all of Germany spoke in horror about planned deportations, and millions took to the streets to demonstrate “against the right.”
A video from the playground and the basic right to cake
An entry ban was discussed against Sellner. But it’s not that easy: the man is Austrian and enjoys freedom of movement throughout the EU. There are ways to deny him entry, but the hurdles are high. He must represent a threat to public safety and order, not just in the abstract, but quite concretely, this would have to be proven or very well justified, and he would have to be heard.
Sellner made a video from the playground on Sunday in which he, as a young father with a small child, visibly amused, announced that he would go to Café Greindl in Passau on Monday and eat cake there. Can there be an attempted coup in coffee and cake? In any case, the federal police put Sellner on a wanted list, the immigration office in Potsdam made contortions to issue a ban, so it was not entirely clear whether there was an entry ban or not.
Sellner cheerfully announced that he was already represented by a lawyer and would take action against such restrictions, and that there would be a live stream of his attempted entry into the “FRG” from 5 p.m. He has a basic right to coffee and cake in Passau. A video shows him trying to find out over the phone whether he is allowed in or not.
Passau pushback? “Ultimatum” by 1 p.m
💪 I am already represented by a lawyer. Inquiries went out to the BMI, BP executive committee, etc.
⏳My lawyer expects clarification by 1:00 p.m. as to whether there is an entry ban against me.
#Sellner #Entry ban pic.twitter.com/rYrDGOrPqY— Marble Clipper (@Marmor_clipper) January 29, 2024
Extremely delighted, the users of of the worst kind, who represents nationalistic and therefore anti-constitutional positions – heaped malice on the authorities all day long because of their stupidity. Didn’t they see that coming? The right-wing extremist has now become a meme. He can only win.
Sellner enthusiastically accepted the proposal. He announced that he would now look for a smuggler. If they succeed in turning him back at the border, it would be the first successful pushback in a long time. If he reaches Germany and is then deported, this shows that deportations are possible even without a previous crime. And anyway, didn’t the Greens always claim that Germany had space?
Out of sheer shock, the Café Greindl in Passau closed unexpectedly on Monday and imposed a ban on Sellner. The innkeeper distanced himself from Sellner’s ideas on social networks on Sunday and said that he had not previously known who the man was. He was like most German citizens.