A televised election debate on Sunday marks one of the last chances for Germany’s struggling chancellor candidate Armin Laschet, from Angela Merkel’s conservative camp, to close the gap with his centre-left rival.

Two weeks before voters head to the polls, gaffe-prone Laschet will face off against Finance Minister Olaf Scholz from the Social Democrats (SPD) and Annalena Baerbock from the left-leaning Greens in the second of three primetime debates.

The first general election of the post-Merkel era has become an unexpected nailbiter in Europe’s top economy.

Surveys show support for Merkel’s centre-right CDU/CSU bloc plummeting to historic lows of around 20 percent while the SPD has come from behind to lead at around 26 percent.

With the Greens polling at 15 percent, a number of coalition outcomes are possible — but observers say the chances of one-time frontrunner Laschet taking the crown are fading fast.

Bild newspaper said the debate could be make-or-break for Laschet.

“To turn the tide, he needs a clear success,” it wrote.

Viewers were left unconvinced by Laschet’s performance in the first debate last month, when Scholz was declared the winner.

– ‘Historic debacle’ –

Laschet, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia state, has been on a downward spiral following a series of missteps, including being caught on camera laughing during a tribute to victims of Germany’s deadly floods in July.

Scholz meanwhile, although often described as wooden and uncharismatic, has run an error-free campaign.

As vice-chancellor and guardian of the nation’s finances, the 63-year-old has positioned himself as the continuity candidate and the natural heir to Merkel’s legacy — despite hailing from a rival party.

The CDU/CSU alliance that has dominated Germany’s post-war politics now faces a “historic debacle” on September 26, Der Spiegel weekly news magazine wrote.

In a sign of growing nervousness, conservatives have gone on the attack against Scholz, accusing him of riding on Merkel’s coat-tails and of trying to steer Germany to the left.

Even Merkel, who is bowing out after 16 years in power and had vowed to stay out of the election battle, has joined the fray.

She visited a flood-hit region with Laschet and used a speech in parliament this week to cast him as the best choice to succeed her, saying he stood for “stability” and “centrism”.

– Comeback king? –

The still immensely popular chancellor also distanced herself from Scholz, criticising him for not unequivocally ruling out a coalition with the radical-left Linke party, which wants to disband NATO.

The Linke is currently polling at six percent and could theoretically be part of a three-way coalition with the SPD and the Greens.

Addressing a congress of the CSU on Saturday, Laschet said such a coalition would lead to “less security” and endanger Germany’s economic growth through higher taxes and more bureaucracy.

Laschet, 60, also courted controversy by saying that the Social Democrats were “on the wrong side” at key moments in Germany’s post-war history.

The remark drew an immediate rebuke from the SPD, which said it revealed Laschet’s “panic” at his slump in the polls.

SPD general-secretary Lars Klingbeil said the CDU/CSU alliance had “lost its dignity under Laschet”, adding: “It belongs in the opposition.”

Laschet has played down the importance of Sunday’s debate, saying the battle for the chancellery would be fought until polling day.

But Laschet’s fate could be sealed sooner, with record numbers expected to vote by post because of the pandemic.

Although Laschet has a track record of snatching unexpected last-minute victories, Spiegel said a typical Laschet comeback “is looking unlikely”.

Source: AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron is among leaders set to attend a regional summit Saturday in Iraq, with the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and a deadly jihadist attack in Kabul overshadowing the meeting.

Macron warned on Saturday the Islamic State group “remains a threat”, speaking days after an affiliate of the jihadists claimed a deadly bombing in Kabul.

“We all know that we must not lower our guard, because Daesh (IS) remains a threat, and I know that the fight against these terrorist groups is a priority of your government,” Macron said, after a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi in Baghdad, where the summit of Middle East leaders begins at midday.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II are also due to attend the summit, while the foreign ministers of arch-foes Iran and Saudi Arabia will also be present.

Organisers have been tight-lipped on the agenda, but the meeting comes as Iraq, long a casualty of jihadist militancy, tries to establish itself as a mediator between Arab countries and Iran.

Iraq seeks to play a “unifying role” to tackle crises shaking the region, sources close to Iraqi Al-Kadhemi have said.

Oil-rich Iraq has been caught for years in a delicate balancing act between its two main allies, Iran and the United States.

Iran exerts major clout in Iraq through allied armed groups within the Hashed al-Shaabi, a powerful state-sponsored paramilitary network.

Baghdad has been brokering talks since April between US ally Riyadh and Tehran on mending ties severed in 2016.

Macron aims to highlight France’s role in the region and its determination to press the fight against terrorism, his office said.

The French president considers Iraq “essential” to stability in the troubled Middle East, it added.

‘More urgent than ever’

An Islamic State (IS) group affiliate claimed Thursday’s suicide bombing in Kabul that killed scores of people, including 13 US service members.

The attack has revived global concerns that the extremist organisation, which seized swathes of Syria and Iraq before being routed from both countries, is emerging anew, analysts said.

The blast came during the final days of US-led evacuations from Afghanistan after the Taliban’s lightning takeover.

“These events show that it has become more urgent than ever to back the political process in Iraq and involve its neighbours,” a source close to Macron said.

“A solution to security threats in the region, including Daesh (IS), depends on a stable, sovereign and prosperous Iraq,” the source added.

A decade after the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, the IS group in June 2014 announced a “caliphate” in territory seized in Syria and Iraq, routing the badly prepared Iraqi army without a fight and seizing almost a third of the country.

France was part of a US-led coalition established to battle the extremists.

Iraq declared the IS group territorially defeated in December 2017, but the group still retains sleeper cells and continues to claim bloody attacks.

New IS group ‘strides’

One of the deadliest was a July bombing that ripped through a crowded Baghdad market, killing over 30 people on the eve of a key Muslim holiday.

According to Colin Clarke, senior research fellow at The Soufan Center, the IS group “still has access to tens of millions of dollars and will likely continue to rebuild its network throughout Iraq and Syria”.

Its “primary goal at the moment is to have its affiliates maintain momentum until it can sufficiently rebuild its core in the Levant,” he said. “IS affiliates in sub-Saharan Africa and now Afghanistan will have the opportunity to make strides in the coming year.”

In July, President Joe Biden said US combat operations in Iraq would end this year, but that US soldiers would continue to train, advise and support the country’s military in the fight against the IS group.

Washington currently has 2,500 troops deployed to Iraq.

Rasha Al Aqeedi, senior analyst at Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, said coalition forces believed Iraq’s security personnel could prevent another IS group advance.

“Maybe they’re not ideal, but they’re good enough for America to leave the country believing that Iraq is not going to live through another 2014,” she said.

Source: AFP

The first round of France’s presidential election will be held on April 10 next year, with the second round scheduled on April 24, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Tuesday.

Legislative elections will take place on June 12 and June 19, he added.

The elections had been the subject of talks between France’s political parties and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, whose ministry is responsible for preparing and organising the country’s elections.

The other set of dates up for discussion for the two presidential election rounds were a first round on April 17, which falls on Easter Sunday in 2022, and a runoff on May 1, the Labour Day holiday in France.

President Emmanuel Macron was elected to a five-year mandate on May 7, 2017, and took office on May 14.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP)

European Union leaders failed to agree on a proposal by France and Germany to hold a summit soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Poland and Baltic countries said it would send the wrong message as East-West ties deteriorate.

After U.S. President Joe Biden met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16, French President Emmanuel Macron said the first EU summit with Putin since January 2014 would be “a dialogue to defend our interests”. He insisted the EU could not only be reactive in its diplomacy with Russia.

But after late night talks at their meeting in Brussels, the 27 EU leaders failed to reach an agreement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said early on Friday.

“It was a very comprehensive discussion, and not an easy one,” she told reporters. “There was no agreement today on an immediate leaders’ meeting,” she said.

EU summits with Russia ended after Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in March 2014 and the West imposed sanctions.

While Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he supported the Franco-German proposal, many other leaders were opposed.

“It was a common position of many leaders” not to change the stance on Russia, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said after the meeting broke up. He earlier said the idea was like “trying to engage the bear to keep a pot of honey safe”.

Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said the EU risked rewarding Russia with a summit even though diplomacy has failed to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine with Russian-backed separatists.

Instead, EU leaders fell back to a familiar position of warning of more sanctions on Moscow if it continued what the EU says is a Russian policy of disinformation, cyber and covert attacks and interference to try to divide the bloc.

Russia denies any wrongdoing

In a summit statement, leaders called on the European Commission and the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell “to present options for additional restrictive measures, including economic sanctions” against Russia.

The EU has sanctions on the Russian energy, financial and arms sectors and individual sanctions on Russians accused of human rights abuses and for using banned chemical weapons.

Diplomats say further sanctions could target Russian money laundering or powerful oligarchs suspected of serious corruption abroad, as non-EU member Britain did for the first time in April.

Search for dialogue

Macron had tried in September 2019 to seek less frosty ties with Putin, without success, and Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel met Putin in Moscow in January 2020. Putin held a phone call with European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs EU summits, on June 7 this year.

France and Germany want to be able to work with Russia on combating climate change and to find ways to stabilise relations. Merkel said even without a summit: “Formats will be explored … under which dialogues can be started.”

Many EU countries are concerned that the Kremlin does not take the bloc seriously, after Borrell was publicly humiliated in February by the Kremlin. Russia expelled EU diplomats during Borrell’s visit to Moscow without warning.

Lithuania’s Nauseda said: “We should be extremely cautious, this is not like the relationship of Russia with the United States”.

While France is a nuclear power, the EU relies on NATO for its territorial defence and takes decisions among 27 states, making it easier for the Kremlin to exploit divisions.

The Kremlin earlier welcomed the idea of a summit, saying both Brussels and Moscow needed dialogue, although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he wanted more details.

On opposing sides in standoffs in Ukraine and Belarus, and at odds over human rights, the EU and Russia accuse each other of threatening security and stability from the Baltics to the Black Sea.

The EU on Thursday imposed economic sanctions on Belarus, an ally of Russia that the Kremlin sees as a buffer state between Russia and NATO.

Reporting from Brussels shortly before the start of the summit, FRANCE 24’s Dave Keating said there was a “very mixed reaction” within the bloc to the proposal. “A lot of EU leaders are very angry about this proposal,” he explained. “Several feel that it’s pretentious for the leaders of France and Germany to think that they could meet with Putin and speak for all of the EU … a lot of countries think that this meeting shouldn’t be happening at all, particularly the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania – and Poland.”

In their remarks to reporters ahead of the summit, a number of European leaders expressed misgivings over the initiative, said Keating. “Estonia’s prime minister [Kaja Kallas] coming into the summit building said she wants to hear from France and Germany what exactly has changed in terms of Russia’s behaviour to warrant this suggested opening of dialogue. We also had Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte saying that if Merkel and Macron want to meet with Putin, he won’t object, but he himself would never meet with Putin. Asked why, he said, ‘one word: MH17’ – that’s the airliner carrying Dutch passengers that was downed over eastern Ukraine by Russian separatists in 2014,” Keating explained.

Standing firm and engaging

The Merkel-Macron plan insists the EU has to stand firm and united on Moscow, but should look to engage with the Kremlin on issues of mutual interest such as climate change, health, the Iran nuclear deal and conflicts in Syria and Libya.

Source: France 24

Nine Catalan separatists who were serving long prison sentences for their role in a failed 2017 independence bid were released from jail on Wednesday a day after being pardoned by Spain.

Rain was falling as the seven male prisoners walked out of Lledoners jail some 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of Barcelona, where they were met by umbrella-carrying supporters shouting “Independence, independence!”

As they walked through the gates, they were embraced by newly-appointed Catalan leader Pere Aragones, and posed for a photograph alongside a Catalan independence flag and a banner reading “Freedom for Catalonia”, an AFP correspondent said.

At the same time, the two remaining prisoners, both women, were released from two other facilities.

The clemency decision was approved by the Spanish government on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez saying he hoped it would draw a line under past confrontations with Catalonia’s separatist-led regional leaders and open the way for talks.

The pardons were published earlier on Wednesday in the government’s official gazette.

The separatists were serving between nine and 13 years in jail for their role in holding a banned referendum in October 2017 that was marred by police violence then followed by a short-lived declaration of independence, sparking Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.

Although the jail sentences have been dropped, all nine are banned from holding public office and the pardons are conditional on them not committing “a serious crime” over the next three to six years.

They have all served more than three years behind bars.

“I am here because the sacrifice they have made for Catalonia and for all of us has been huge,” said Ignasi Sole, a 65-year-old retired mechanic who was waiting outside Lledoners prison for their release.

“It’s a way of thanking them.”

– ‘Independence through dialogue’ –

The pardons have been roundly denounced by Spain’s right-wing opposition as well as by many in the pro-independence camp who want a full amnesty that would allow those who fled abroad to return home.

Analysts have also warned it is a risky political gamble that may help calm tensions but won’t solve the years-long turmoil over the separatist crisis, which has left Catalonia sharply divided.

Madrid is hoping the move will give impetus to the upcoming talks with the Catalan government of Aragones who is more open to dialogue than his hardline predecessor.

Aragones and Oriol Junqueras, the prisoner serving the longest sentence of 13 years, who also heads the moderate ERC party, have recently taken steps towards Sanchez by distancing themselves from the path of unilateralism.

“We will devote all our efforts in this new stage to ensuring that negotiation be the basis for resolving the conflict,” Aragones said Tuesday.

“The best way to achieve (independence) is through dialogue, negotiation and agreement.”

When the separatists were sentenced in October 2019 by Spain’s Supreme Court, the ruling triggered an outcry across Catalonia, with thousands hitting the streets in protests that sometimes turned violent.

The move to pardon the separatists was approved by more than two-thirds of Catalans, an Ipsos poll found.

But the same poll found that 53 percent of Spaniards were against the move, which has also been opposed by Spain’s Supreme Court and the right-wing opposition.

In the coming weeks, Sanchez will meet for the first time with Aragones, who has pledged to push for an amnesty and a new referendum on self-determination — this time with Madrid’s approval.

Both are out of the question for the Spanish government.

Source: AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron offered on Saturday to reset relations with Britain as long as Prime Minister Boris Johnson stands by the Brexit divorce deal he signed with the European Union.

Since Britain completed its exit from the EU late last year, relations with the bloc and particularly France have soured, with Macron becoming the most vocal critic of London’s refusal to honour the terms of part of its Brexit deal.

At a meeting at the Group of Seven rich nations in southwestern England, Macron told Johnson the two countries had common interests, but that ties could improve only if Johnson kept his word on Brexit, a source said.

“The president told Boris Johnson there needed to be a reset of the Franco-British relationship,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

“This can happen provided that he keeps his word with the Europeans,” the source said, adding that Macron spoke in English to Johnson.

‘Shared approach’

The Elysee Palace said that France and Britain shared a common vision and common interests on many global issues and “a shared approach to transatlantic policy”.

Johnson will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel later on Saturday, where she could also raise the dispute over a part of the EU divorce deal that is called the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The British leader, who is hosting the G7 meeting, wants the summit to focus on global issues, but has stood his ground on trade with Northern Ireland, calling on the EU to be more flexible in its approach to easing trade to the province from Britain.

The protocol aims to keep the province, which borders EU member Ireland, in both the United Kingdom’s customs territory and the EU’s single market. But London says the protocol is unsustainable in its current form because of the disruption it has caused to supplies of everyday goods to Northern Ireland.

Source: REUTERS

The Christian Democrats (CDU) party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has won the vote in a key state, giving the conservatives a big boost ahead of the national election.

Election results in Saxony-Anhalt in eastern Germany showed CDU won around 37 percent of the votes on Sunday in the last regional poll before the general elections scheduled for September 26.

The result is a huge boost for the conservative party which has chosen its new leader Armin Laschet to replace Merkel as chancellor after her 16-year-stint at the helm.

“Laschet is still a long way from the chancellor’s office,” the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily said. But the poll result has brought him “much closer to it.”

Political observers say the vote also showed the CDU’s greater popularity in comparison to its main rival at the national level, the Green party, as well as Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Polls in the last ten days have shown the CDU, and its smaller Bavarian CSU sister party, are slightly ahead of the Greens again after falling behind earlier in the year, according to Berenberg Bank’s chief economist Holger Schmieding.

“After the CDU did well in Saxony-Anhalt, this nascent reversal of fortunes in favor of the CDU will likely continue,” Schmieding said.

Source: Presstv

Turkey on Wednesday blamed the EU for seating arrangements that left European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen without a chair during a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan and Turkish officials came under a torrent of criticism after images went viral of his meeting on Tuesday with von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel in Ankara.

The well-appointed room which the three leaders entered had only two chairs arranged next to the corresponding EU and Turkish flags.

Erdogan and Michel quickly seated themselves while von der Leyen — whose diplomatic rank is the same as that of the two men — was left standing.

“Ehm,” she said pointedly, while appearing to spread her arms in wonder.

Official images later showed her seated on a sofa opposite one taken by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Cavusoglu said on Thursday that criticism levelled against Turkey for the diplomatic blunder was “unfair”.

“The seating arrangements were made in line with the EU suggestion. Period. We would not be revealing this fact had accusations not been made against Turkey,” Cavusoglu told reporters.

“The demands and suggestions of the EU side were met and the proper protocol applied during the meeting,” he said.

‘Turkish hospitality’

The diplomatic faux pas was instantly branded “sofagate” on Twitter and became the dominant talking point of the first Turkey-EU summit in a year.

The meeting was aimed at setting a more positive tone to relations after months of trouble on multiple fronts.

But it ended with European officials accusing Turkey — which last month withdrew from the landmark Istanbul Convention combatting gender-based violence — of male chauvinism.

“First they withdraw from the Istanbul Convention and now they leave the President of European Commission without a seat in an official visit. Shameful. #WomensRights,” wrote Spanish European Parliament member Iratxe Garcia Perez.

Some also questioned why Michel was so quick to take a seat.

The European Council president broke nearly a full day of silence on Wednesday by writing on Facebook that he realised that the scene gave “the impression that I was oblivious to this situation”.

But Michel blamed it on a “protocol blunder” by Turkey that he and von der Leyen decided to overlook at the time.

The two EU leaders “chose not to worsen it by making a public incident,” Michel wrote.

“I am sad that this situation eclipsed the major and beneficial geopolitical work that we carried out together in Ankara, and of which I hope Europe will reap the benefits.”

Von der Leyen herself used a post-summit press conference to stress that she had a detailed discussion with Erdogan about women’s rights.

“I am deeply worried about the fact that Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention,” she said.

European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said the incident had “sharpened her focus on the issue”.

But Cavusoglu said Turkey knew perfectly how to follow diplomatic protocol and was simply complying with the instructions of a planning delegation sent by Brussels.

“Turkey is a well-established state that hosts guests often and at every level,” he said.

“The meetings — especially in Turkey — are held within the frame of international protocol rules and Turkish hospitality.”

Source: AFP

Catalonia goes to the polls Sunday for an election Madrid hopes will unseat the region’s ruling separatists more than three years after a failed bid to break away from Spain.

But the vote could see a high level of abstentions as Spain battles a third wave of the pandemic.

Regional authorities ramped up restrictions to slow soaring case numbers after the Christmas holidays and while the situation has slightly improved, the figures are still high.

When the polls open at 0800 GMT on Sunday, about 5.5 million voters will be eligible to cast their ballots.

But 35,600 of the 82,000 people assigned to help staff polling stations on the day have asked to be recused, despite pledges they will receive full protective suits.

The regional government has insisted that all necessary health and security measures are in place, providing antigen tests for election workers, as well as spacious, well-ventilated polling stations.

It has accepted only 23,300 of the requests.

Separatists eye majority

Turnout for the vote is not expected to exceed 60 percent — and not just because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The vote has been overshadowed by a bitter split between the separatist factions following the failed 2017 independence bid that sparked Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.

The Catalan government has been dominated by separatists since 2015, but Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is hoping this election, the fifth in a decade, could end their rule.

He himself came to lead Spain’s government in 2018 thanks in part to support from Catalan separatists. Even today, his minority government relies on them to pass legislation.

But Sanchez has not hidden his desire to remove them from power.

To that end, former health minister Salvador Illa is spearheading the Socialists’ bid to unseat the separatists in Sunday’s election. Sanchez has even taken part in some electoral meetings himself.

The polls put his PSC (Socialist Party of Catalonia) neck-and-neck with the pro-independence parties.

Post-election deal-making

Even if the PSC comes out on top however, polls suggest none of the parties will win an outright majority of 68 in the 135-seat regional parliament.

And that means the eventual outcome will depend on deal-making.

Forming a government “will probably be quite challenging” and prospects of a repeat election cannot be ruled out, says Antonio Barroso, an analyst at political consultancy Teneo.

And while the separatist parties remain deeply divided, polls suggest the hardline JxC — “Together for Catalonia” — and the more moderate ERC could once again cobble together a ruling majority.

Both this week formally ruled out a coalition with the socialists.

The main question then is which of the two will come out stronger.

In the previous election in December 2017, JxC was ahead, forming a 70-seat coalition with ERC.

Should the tables be turned in ERC’s favour, it would likely ease tensions and help the tentative reconciliation Sanchez’s government has sought to broker since coming to power.

“An ERC executive would maintain the current ambiguous approach of criticising Madrid rhetorically but not adopting any unilateral measures,” said Barroso.

“In contrast, a government headed by JxC would probably lead to a more confrontational stance.”

(AFP)

Germany’s domestic security agency is on the verge of announcing whether the far-right AfD will be placed under surveillance for posing a threat to democracy, dealing a potential blow to the anti-immigration party in a key election year.

After a two-year investigation and a report totalling over 1,000 pages, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) is to decide in the coming days if the Alternative for Germany (AfD) will be classed as a “suspected case” over its ties to right-wing extremism.

The classification would allow intelligence agents to shadow the party, tap its communications and possibly use undercover informants.

The anti-Islam, anti-immigration AfD has often courted controversy by calling for Germany to stop atoning for its World War II crimes. Senior figure Alexander Gauland once described the Nazi era as just “a speck of bird poo” on German history.

The BfV’s decision comes at a sensitive time for the AfD. While it is the largest opposition party in parliament, it has seen its ratings fall as the pandemic has kept the spotlight firmly on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition parties.

AfD leader Joerg Meuthen has vowed to take legal action if the BfV decides to begin surveillance, accusing the government-run agency of playing politics in what pundits have dubbed a “super election year” in Germany.

The AfD faces six regional elections this year and a general election on September 26, the first in over 15 years that won’t feature Merkel.

The first regional test will come with state polls in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate on March 14, where support for the AfD is hovering around 10 percent.

– Radical ‘Wing’ –

The AfD started out at as an anti-euro outfit in 2013 before capitalising on public anger over Merkel’s 2015 decision to allow in a wave of asylum seekers from conflict-torn countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The AfD took nearly 13 percent of the vote in the 2017 general election, allowing it to make its debut in the German Bundestag.

But the party has long been locked in an internal battle between an extremist faction and populist, conservative members who are wary of scaring off mainstream voters.

Germany’s domestic intelligence service already placed a radical fringe of the party, known as The Wing, under surveillance last year over its association with known neo-Nazis and on suspicion of violating the constitution.

The faction, led by firebrand Bjoern Hoecke, dissolved itself last March but many of its 7,000 members remain active in the AfD.

“This gives rise to doubts about whether they really lost influence,” Der Spiegel weekly said.

Hoecke, the AfD’s leader in Thuringia state, famously referred to Germany’s Holocaust Memorial in Berlin as “a monument of shame” and has called for a “180 degree reversal” in the country’s remembrance culture.

The AfD’s Thuringia branch and another one in Brandenburg have also been designated as “suspected cases” of right-wing extremism by the BfV.

The authorities’ concern about the AfD has grown after the country suffered a string of right-wing, anti-Semitic attacks in recent years. The risk of violence from Germany’s far-right scene is now considered the country’s top threat.

AfD chief Meuthen has struggled to rein in the party’s more radical figures, telling a congress in November that they would not win over voters by being “increasingly crude, aggressive”.

He also rubbished comparisons of the current coronavirus restrictions with a “dictatorship”, as AfD lawmaker Gauland had done.

Nevertheless, more than a few of the AfD’s 35,000 members are believed to harbour extremist sympathies.

One of them, Andreas Kalbitz, was the head of the AfD in Brandenburg before he was kicked out for hiding his past membership in a neo-Nazi youth group.

“The AfD could be declared a suspected case because it is dominated by the radical wing of the party, whose influence has only grown in recent months,” Hajo Funke, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University, told AFP.

As for the party’s chances at the ballot box in 2021, Funke said “endless” infighting had left the AfD without clear policies, settling instead on “simply saying the opposite of whatever the government proposes”.

Source: AFP