German Chancellor Friedrich Merz labelled the far-right AfD's demand for mass "remigration" a form of "ethnic cleansing by skin colour and origin" in a heated parliamentary exchange Wednesday.

Berlin (AFP) – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz labelled the far-right AfD’s demand for mass “remigration” a form of “ethnic cleansing by skin colour and origin” in a heated parliamentary exchange Wednesday.

Three days after the AfD scored a crushing election victory over his centre-right CDU in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, Merz and AfD co-leader Alice Weidel sharply attacked each other in the assembly.

Merz took aim at the Alternative for Germany party’s demand for mass deportations of rejected asylum seekers and people arriving via irregular channels.

“The word ‘remigration’ is nothing other than a synonym for ethnic cleansing,” Merz said about the AfD’s flagship policy.

“Remigration is nothing other than ethnic cleansing by skin colour and origin,” he added to howls of protest from AfD deputies in the Bundestag.

The AfD took almost 44 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, against 17 percent for the CDU.

The AfD, which fell three seats short of an absolute majority, said it was now in talks with other groups and MPs in an effort to form a state government.

The rise of the AfD has unnerved many who feel Germany has a special responsibility to atone for its Nazi past.

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  • BigMacHoleEnglish
    22·
    15 days ago

    We ONLY support Ethnic Cleansing when it’s ISRAEL doing It!

    -Merz!

  • red_green_black@slrpnk.netEnglish
    9·
    15 days ago

    As much as I want the AfD to go away the reality is the current strategy employed by the political establishment in Germany is the same the Democrat Establishment tried with MAGA. “don’t vote for them because they want to do bad things. Vote for us because we want good things but also don’t rock the boat.”

    Regardless of how you feel reality is people in economically poor regions (such as East Germany.) Want to rock the boat

  • Lumidaub@feddit.orgEnglish
    31·
    15 days ago

    And you think that’ll convince the average AfD voter to, uh, NOT vote for them?

  • Eternal192@anarchist.nexusEnglish
    2·
    15 days ago

    “Germany has a special responsibility to atone for it’s Nazi past”… sure, go drown in piss and shit for that comment! That’s a response from someone that’s not German.

    America hasn’t “atoned” for any of the many genocidal acts it has committed and continues to commit, it’s close pal Israel hasn’t “atoned” for their genocidal acts since the country was established.

    Those that participated in WWII died in prison or were put in charge of organisations that still exist today (lookup operation paperclip) so the commanders were spared and those under them were sacrificed, soldiers have a choice during war get shot by your own for desertion or go fight and maybe come home eventually, same is in America, Russia, Ukraine, etc.

    Ask yourself, do you blame every soldier that follows orders that Trump gives to the commanders that pass those orders down the chain of command?

    You can also blame Zelensky because his soldiers killed a few civilians during an assault on Russian military targets, do you in turn blame EVERY Russian for what Putin is doing?

    Germany had it’s Nazi past, but the shining beacon of “democracy” America has had the KKK for way longer and they are still around to this day and nobody is saying that they have a “special responsibility” and are doing the same racists shit TODAY!

    So no, fuck that, the only reason Germany has a special responsibility is because they lost the war.

    So stop looking back at something that happened 80 years ago and look at what’s happening today and which countries are committing the same acts and getting away with it while using Germany as a diversion.