analysis
Critics warn of increasing radicalization of the AfD – not just in East Germany. In Rhineland-Palatinate, too, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is observing ever closer networking with the right-wing extremist scene.
Many people probably only heard of “remigration” when the word was named the worst word of the year. The word actually comes from research, but in right-wing extremist circles it is used as a synonym for the millions of people with a migration background being expelled from Germany – sometimes also people with dual citizenship. According to research by the Correctiv network, this is exactly what the secret meeting in Potsdam, which AfD members also took part in, was about.
The term “remigration” has been circulating in right-wing extremist circles for a long time and was coined by the “Identitarian Movement”. The buzzword appeared in Rhineland-Palatinate in 2018, when “identitarian” activists marched through the southern Palatinate town of Kandel. The demand: “Remigration” was emblazoned on a large banner. After the murder of 17-year-old Mia by a refugee, there were several rallies by right-wing extremist groups in the city.
AfD takes over Key term the “Identitarians”
The AfD has now officially adopted the term “identitarians”, including two politicians from Rhineland-Palatinate: the Bundestag member Sebastian Münzenmaier and the Koblenz state parliament member Joachim Paul. Last August, in a speech at his party’s European election meeting, Paul demanded that in the future it should be called “remigration” instead of “assimilation and integration.”
The deputy AfD parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, Sebastian Münzenmaier, also used the catchphrase of the Identitarians in November 2023 when he said in the Bundestag: “The watchword of the hour is remigration. And remigration millions of times.”
At the request of the SWR editorial team “To the point – Rhineland Palatinate” Münzenmaier distances himself from the demands that were expressed at the secret meeting in Potsdam, according to the research network Correctiv.
While he spoke of millions of deportations in his Bundestag speech, he now says: “Of course we have to talk about remigration, about migrants returning to their home countries based on constitutional principles. We have (…) hundreds of thousands of people who shouldn’t be here. And Of course we have to return these people to their home countries.”
In November, Münzenmaier spoke in the Bundestag of “millions of remigration”.
Networking with the right-wing extremist scene
In Mainz, where Münzenmaier’s constituency office is located, a decision by the city administration is currently making waves: it has banned the use of a former car dealership as a meeting place for the AfD – for “building law reasons”. Among other things, the youth organization celebrated its tenth anniversary in the building. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies it as definitely right-wing extremist. In October 2023, an “alternative book fair” with authors and publishers from the right-wing extremist scene also took place there. The patron was Sebastian Münzenmaier.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution observed that the AfD was networking with the right-wing extremist scene. In Koblenz, the head of the “Identitarian Movement”, Martin Sellner, who is considered to be right-wing extremist, is said to have given a lecture on his “remigration” plans last summer – at the invitation of AfD politician Joachim Paul.
Investigations against Koblenz AfD politicians
The Koblenz public prosecutor’s office is currently investigating Paul in a completely different matter: In March 2023, the state parliament member is said to have shared a video on his Twitter account that was circulating online in which a girl was beaten and humiliated by other young people.
Paul is said to have shared the recording and linked it to a political message. The accusation: He may have violated personal rights.
AfD Bundestag member Sebastian Münzenmaier also regularly posts online, including on the TikTok platform, where he speaks, for example, of “the lies of the established parties”. Experts observe that the AfD is the most active of all parties on the Internet and also presents itself confidently there.
Social media expert Martin Fuchs says that the party specifically focuses on demarcation and escalation, according to the motto: “Us against them” – which is extremely confusing online.
Interior Minister: Borders are becoming increasingly blurred
The Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Minister Michael Ebling sees the AfD in the state on the path to radicalization: “Where the leading AfD politicians may have previously attached importance to not being lumped together with right-wing extremists, the cooperation is now so strong “that people no longer make any effort to differentiate themselves,” said the SPD politician.
However, he is skeptical about the question of a possible party ban. It’s more about dealing with the AfD politically and socially and keeping the people who would vote for the AfD in democracy.
Party researcher: No immediate danger
The AfD is polarizing the country. On the one hand, it receives high approval ratings; in surveys nationwide, the party has around 20 percent. On the other hand, there is fear of a rise in right-wing extremism and more and more people are taking to the streets to protest against it.
However, party researcher Uwe Jun from the University of Trier fears that the current demonstrations could also contribute to further radicalization of the AfD. However, he does not consider the AfD’s ongoing rise to be an immediate threat to democracy.
It remains to be seen how well the party performs in the European elections and the East German state elections. But a federal government majority for the AfD is “very unlikely and a long way off” because no other currently relevant party wants to form a coalition with it, emphasizes party researcher Jun.