Thousands of people across Germany have taken 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.
Protests have taken place in Leipzig, Rostock, Essen and Berlin in recent days.
The AfD’s leadership has sought to distant itself from the gathering in November on the outskirts of Potsdam, west of Berlin, which was revealed by the investigative journalism network Correctiv on Wednesday. However, several party members were involved and have since voiced their support for the ideas discussed.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The AfD’s leadership has sought to distant itself from the gathering in November on the outskirts of Potsdam, west of Berlin, which was revealed by the investigative journalism network Correctiv on Wednesday.
On Monday, Alice Weidel, the co-chair of the party, announced she was parting ways with her adviser Roland Hartwig, after his participation in the event was confirmed.
Among MPs to publicly express their support for the ideas discussed at the meeting was René Springer, a representative for the state of Brandenburg in the federal government.
Wolfgang Thierse, a former president of the German parliament who is considered a moral authority in the country, threw his weight behind an initiative to explore the possibility of banning the party on the grounds of anti-constitutionality.
A petition specifically directed against the Thuringia AfD’s group leader, Björn Höcke, has gained traction since the Potsdam meeting was revealed and by Tuesday had garnered more than 830,000 signatures.
The European parliament is due to debate the resurgence of neo-fascism across the continent on Tuesday evening, after a last-minute agenda item was added to address a chilling video from Italy that appeared to show hundreds of men making fascist salutes earlier this month.
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