After Marine Le Pen (RN party) criticised Germany’s AfD party for allegedly advocating “remigration”, on Wednesday, ahead of an upcoming peace summit with the RN, representatives of the party tried to defuse tensions within the ranks of the EU far-right by making an official comment about an earlier confusion.
The AfD was hit by a wave of outrage after some of its members attended a secret meeting in Potsdam where the deportation of all foreigners and ethnic minorities in Germany, euphemistically called “remigration,” was on the agenda, according to Correctiv.
AfD have included the term in their EU election manifesto, where the party calls for “remigration instead of attracting talent”.
The revelations prompted French far-right leader Le Pen to question AfD’s membership of the united European party group ID, as she said there was a “strong opposition” between her and AfD on “remigration”.
Amid mounting pressure, the AfD leadership suggested that Le Pen had confused “remigration,” defined in a secret meeting, with the party’s official definition.
On Wednesday, the party passed an official resolution on the intended meaning of the term “remigration” in its manifesto. The resolution said that when it used the term it was referring to the deportation of “foreigners who are legally obliged to leave the country” rather than all members of ethnic minorities. The resolution reads:
“We firmly oppose unconstitutional demands such as the arbitrary collective deportation of foreigners (…) or even the deportation of German citizens with a migration background.”
The AfD is also seeking to defuse tensions with the RN directly. The AfD’s main candidate in the EU elections, Maximilian Krah, and the head of the delegation in the EU Parliament, Gunnar Beck, will meet Beck’s RN colleague Jean-Paul Garraud on Tuesday to discuss the issue. He said:
“The topic of the meeting will be to discuss “the meeting in Potsdam to find out exactly what is going on and whether there are any changes in the AfD’s political programme, especially with regard to remigration.”
In light of the AfD’s assurances, Garraud said he was confident that the feud could be resolved, saying that, according to his information, “the AfD completely denies the allegations” and “there is no change in its political line.”
Political opponents are keeping up the pressure. On Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD, SPD) and opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU, EPP) lashed out at the party in parliament, a rare instance of agreement.
The AfD opposes German aid to poor countries in Southern Europe. The party is in favour of tightening migration policy, limiting the influence of banks, preserving German culture, etc. According to the party representatives, the goal of their political organisation is to preserve European culture and German identity.
