Far-right AfD backpedals on ‘remigration’ ahead of meeting with Le Pen party
After Marine Le Pen (RN party) slammed the German AfD party for allegedly advocating for ‘remigration’, the party has tried to ease tensions among the EU far-right on Wednesday, ahead of an upcoming peace summit with RN representatives, with an official clarification saying there was previous confusion.
The AfD has been facing outrage after some of its members attended a secret meeting in Potsdam where participants supposedly discussed the deportation of all foreigners and minority-ethnic German citizens, euphemistically dubbed ‘remigration’, as Correctiv reported.
The term also appears in the AfD’s EU election manifesto, where the party calls for “Remigration instead of talent acquisition”.
The revelations had French far-right figurehead Le Pen question the AfD’s membership in the joint European party group ID as she said there was “strong opposition” between her and the AfD on “remigration”.
With pressure mounting, the AfD leadership has resorted to claiming that Le Pen confused ‘remigration’ as defined at the secret meeting with the party’s official definition.
On Wednesday, it found itself forced to pass an official resolution on the intended meaning of ‘remigration’ in its manifesto.
When referring to the term, the party was referring to the deportation of “foreigners who were legally obliged to leave the country” rather than all minority-ethnic residents, the party claimed.
“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 resolution reads.
Key meeting with RN on Tuesday
The AfD is also seeking to ease tensions with the RN directly.
AfD EU election top candidate Maximilian Krah and EU Parliament delegation leader Gunnar Beck will meet with Beck’s RN counterpart Jean-Paul Garraud on Tuesday to address the matter, as Garraud told Euractiv.
The parties are expected to discuss “the Potsdam meeting, to find out exactly what is going on and whether there are any changes in the AfD’s political programme, particularly concerning ‘remigration’”, he said.
In the light of the AfD’s reassurances, Garraud claimed he was confident the feud could be resolved, stating, according to his information, “the AfD totally denies the allegations”, and there was “no change in [its] political line”.
The situation also remains tricky for the AfD in Germany.
While the AfD had risen in the polls last year to become the second-most popular party in Germany, it has lost some support since the revelations broke.
Political opponents are keeping up the pressure. On Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD, S&D) and leader of the opposition, Friedrich Merz (CDU, EPP), slammed the party in parliament in a rare case of agreement.
“This is not just about one word,” Scholz told lawmakers in Berlin.
“Conferences in country homes [and] ‘remigration’ – reminiscent of the darkest times of Germany’s history,” he added.
Merz said the AfD had shown its “true face” as it colluded with right-wing extremists.
“Enough is enough – you are not the Alternative for Germany but its demise,” said the leader of the centre-right CDU.
(Nick Alipour | Euractiv.de, Paul Messad | Euractiv.fr)
Read more with Euractiv
