Radicals within the AfD party intend to form an alliance with the group that succeeded the NPD.
In various Brandenburg municipal elections, the far-right party AfD emerged as the dominant force in several districts. Now, it seems that select AfD politicians are trying to form alliances with the ultranationalist group "Die Heimat" in both city parliaments and county councils. This move has sparked expulsion proceedings against these politicos from the AfD.
Three AfD politicos are attempting to form a joint faction with "Die Heimat" in Brandenburg municipal parliaments, and they're now facing the axe from the AfD. In Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, which borders Saxony, a coalition with "Die Heimat" was revealed, as per a spokesperson.
Similarly, collaboration with "Die Heimat," the successor party of the NPD, is anticipated in Lauchhammer city in the same district. The Chairman of Brandenburg AfD, René Springer, aims to evict the three involved party members. "Die Heimat" is on the AfD's list of organizations with which they refuse cooperation.
Oberspreewald-Lausitz county council had 16 of the 50 seats won by the AfD in the recent elections. Two of these 16 council members, AfD local politicians Bernd Dietrich and Peter Gröbe, along with the representative of "Die Heimat," Thomas Gürtler, are planning to form a new faction called "Heimat und Zukunft." The spokesperson supports this claim. Gürtler will become the chairman. The first session of the county council is scheduled for July 4. The Brandenburg AfD is widely viewed as a right-wing extremist concern by the Constitutional Protection Agency. This was first reported by "Spiegel."
In the Lauchhammer city council of the affected district, a new faction named "AfDplus" is rumored to form with Gürtler, the two AFD members, and another AFD councilor. In Lauchhammer, the AfD and "Die Heimat" obtained six and one seats respectively. Previously, "Die Heimat" had publicly commented on this matter.
Springer, the Chairman of Brandenburgan AfD, stated, "Due to the intentional disregard of membership obligations, and the severe breach of the party's fundamental principles, I'll initiate expulsion proceedings against the three members." Legal action will also be initiated against the "AfDplus" name. These developments have left the party shocked, as Springer assumed this wouldn't happen. The mandate holders had "reacted not out of political conviction, but out of a sense of obligation to the mandate they were given."
Katja Mast, SPD parliamentary affairs manager, described the cooperation between the AfD and "Die Heimat" in Brandenburg as disgraceful. "The AfD is shedding its mask and showing its true colors," Mast conveyed to the "Funke Media Group" newspapers. "It's disgraceful and a worrying sign for our democracy that a party in the Bundestag is radicalizing itself and cooperating with the NPD successor party."
The party "Die Heimat" was classified as a right-wing extremist group by the Constitutional Protection Agency until June of the previous year. Its organization plays a significant role in the right-wing extremist networking scene. The Brandenburg AfD state association is considered a right-wing extremist questionable case by the Constitutional Protection Agency.
