Germany

Right-Wing Austrian Nationalist Banned From Germany

MAR 20 2024·Updated AUG 27

Story

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Facts

The Austrian right-wing activist Martin Sellner has been banned from entering Germany after he reportedly discussed the mass deportation of migrants at a meeting with members of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Al Jazeera
Sellner — a former co-leader of the ethnonationalist Identitarian Movement in Austria — posted a video on X on Tuesday saying that he couldn't enter Germany for three years, or else he would face deportation.
Dw.Com
Authorities in the German city of Potsdam near Berlin confirmed on Tuesday that a ban on "freedom of movement in Germany" had been imposed on an EU citizen "with immediate effect." Their identity was not published for privacy reasons.
Al Jazeera
Sellner reportedly held a meeting in November in Potsdam with AfD members, neo-Nazis, and other extremists, where he discussed "remigration" — the mass deportation of migrants, asylum seekers, and citizens of foreign origin perceived to have failed to integrate.
Guardian
Potsdam's mayor Mike Schubert said in a statement that the entry ban shows "that the state is not powerless." The "Remigration" meeting triggered a wave of mass protests against the AfD across Germany.
The Local
Over the weekend, Sellner was prevented from speaking at an event in Switzerland and forced to leave the region. He was also permanently banned from entering the UK in 2019, with the US revoking his travel permit to the country the same year.
Dw.Com

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The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

The entry ban against Sellner has sent a powerful message that German authorities do not tolerate right-wing agitators who undermine constitutional order and national security. In a tolerant and pluralistic society, there is no place for demagogues and right-wing conspiracy theorists who turn migrants into scapegoats without offering any real solutions to people's problems. The recent mass protests against the AfD proved that Germany will never allow hateful ideologies to poison its society.

guardian

Establishment-critical narrative

That Sellner is no longer allowed to enter Germany is outrageous and a further step in undermining freedom of expression so as to protect so-called "public order." The justification for this ruling is based on the narrative spread by the mainstream media of a right-wing conspiracy against migrants and the German state. Sellner needs to take legal action against the ban, or else a precedent will be set for the criminalization of the AfD and any patriot who opposes the policies of the globalist elites.

Heimatkurier