Germany, the far right and “the People”

Last year’s Correctiv exposé of a gathering of right-wing extremists in Potsdam showed just how much steam has built up behind the völkisch (ethno-nationalist) concept of "remigration" – and it is now more relevant than ever. For, despite the reaction to its use at that meeting, at its recent party conference in Riesa the AfD inserted the term into its election manifesto.

In this article, Correctiv explains exactly what is meant by "remigration". In the process, it draws on sources whom its editorial team have a duty to protect. The article also quotes statements made both in Potsdam and in videos, mostly by the far-right activist Martin Sellner, widely considered to be the ideological leader of the Identitarian movement.

What was said in Potsdam?

On 25 November 2023, a group of right-wing extremists, ethno-nationalist ideologues, high-ranking AfD officials, CDU members, entrepreneurs and lawyers gathered to discuss Martin Sellner's "overarching remigration concept". 

In the course of that meeting, Sellner proposed a policy of "remigration" for asylum seekers, non-Germans with the right to remain and "unassimilated citizens", adding that, in his view, "unassimilated citizens" (i.e. Germans with a migration background who had not sufficiently adapted to the ways of the German people, according to Sellner) were "the biggest problem". His solution: such people had to be put under “strong pressure to adapt” – through "tailored laws", for example. "Remigration" was not something that could be achieved overnight, but would be "a decade-long project", he said.

What do ‘tailored laws’ mean in a historical context?

German history presents us with an example of tailored laws being applied to certain citizens, namely the developments culminating in the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, which stripped Jewish citizens in Germany of their rights [...] and paved the way for their extermination. It is essential to remember this historical perspective when Sellner talks about "tailored laws" for the "remigration" of "unassimilated citizens," and a "decade-long project".

However, Sellner’s "tailored laws" certainly sound to start out innocently enough. In a video for the far-right magazine Compact, he tries to demonstrate their supposed harmlessness by comparing them to the restrictive immigration legislation in Social Democrat-governed Denmark.

What is it that roots Sellner’s worldview in völkisch ideology?

Martin Sellner repeatedly uses völkisch terminology and ideas in his lectures and books; in his 2023 book, Regime Change von rechts [Regime Change from the Right], he even draws explicitly on the top lawyer of the Nazi era, Carl Schmitt. In this book, Sellner states that the main goal of the Right is to preserve "ethno-cultural identity", which must be protected from "population exchange". The myth of "population exchange" is based on fears of racial replacement, and is central to the völkisch Right. Völkisch ideology is rooted in the assumption that a community can only consist of "its own", and that anything "alien" must therefore be suppressed.

How do the courts view Sellner's plan for ‘remigration’? Would it be compatible with the Constitution?

There have been several court rulings suggesting that the "remigration" of "unassimilated" citizens on the basis of an ethno-cultural concept of what constitutes "the people" would not be compatible with the Constitution.

On 13 May 2024, the Münster Higher Administrative Court rejected an AfD complaint about being monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution [the internal security services]. The court’s reasoning included the following sentence: "What is unconstitutional and incompatible with human dignity, however, is the linking of an 'ethno-cultural concept of the people' to a political objective that undermines the legal equality of all citizens."

Does Sellner’s “remigration” plan undermine the legal equality of all citizens?

The Constitution guarantees the legal equality of all citizens, regardless of origin and gender. This equality is undermined when certain citizens are treated differently on the basis of labels such as "unassimilated", and "tailored laws" are then created specifically for them, in order to make them to leave the country. In a video from 27 December 2023, Sellner himself does not speak about individuals, but about groups. He talks about twelve million citizens with a migrant background. Of these, he says in the video, "between five and six million" could potentially meet the criteria for "remigration".

What connects Sellner’s “remigration” policy with a historical re-evaluation of National Socialist crimes in Germany?

Sellner has said [in a video on rumble.com] that a policy of "remigration" would require a "different politics of memory" and the renunciation of ‘national masochism’, and that this would not be possible without  "the love of one's own." He also writes about the connection between this völkisch goal and the remembrance of the crimes of National Socialism in his book, Regime Change von rechts, in which he describes the "main goal of the Right" as being to "preserve our ethno-cultural identity" and adds that "history education geared towards traumatisation and national self-loathing" must stop.

What differentiates the AfD's ‘remigration’ proposal from the CDU/CSU's call for controlled migration?

The all-important differentiator between the AfD and the CDU/CSU is völkisch ideology. The CDU’s candidate for Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has more than once acknowledged that Germany is a "country of immigration", including on Twitter [now X] on 11 April 2023. The CDU wants stricter immigration rules and is calling for sanctions in individual cases. By contrast, Sellner's ‘"emigration" concept is not aimed at individuals, but at entire groups of people.

What is the significance of the AfD’s inclusion of the term “remigration” in its election manifesto?

At its party conference in Riesa, on 11 January, the AfD voted to include the word "remigration" in its election manifesto. Alice Weidel said at that conference, "If it's going to be called 'remigration', then it's going to mean 'remigration'”. It is surprising to hear her use the word [...] because, according to the online platform Pioneer, in a background interview in March 2024 she said, "I think it's unwise to use the term." [...] Now, though, she has made a U-turn and joined with the AfD in adopting it.

The party manifesto only uses the term in connection with the tightening of asylum and residence laws, and not (as Sellner does) to refer to multiple groups as a whole, including citizens with a migration background. Nevertheless, it is virtually impossible to separate the idea of "remigration" from the charged ethno-nationalism of Sellner, AfD politicians such as Björn Höcke, and others.

Justus von Daniels, Jean Peters, Anette Dowideit all contributed to this article.

👉Original article on Correctiv