News from Germany/Europe

Switzerland voted to ban the construction of minarets in 2009 via a referendum. German Justice Minister Heiko Maas says such a move would be unconstitutional in Germany as he seeks to scare voters away from AfD candidates.

Justice Minister Heiko (the mouse that roars) Maas warns that AfD's "election manifesto" may contain unconstitutional goals. He WARNS in an article in a Frankfurter newspaper that “for the first time since 1949, a party is likely to clear what's known as the 5 percent hurdle to be represented in the Bundestag with an election manifesto that is partly unconstitutional.” What is unconstitutional? He points to the AfD call for a ban on minarets in Germany – those high towers on mosques that call the faithful to prayer. Such a ban is based on the fact that it changes the characteristic and historic look of German towns which are dotted with modest Christian church towers. Maas cites Germany's Basic Law that permits "freedom of religion" and prohibits "discrimination on the grounds of faith or religious beliefs." He omits to say that such a measure would have to be voted on by the Bundestag.

Maas finds that the AfD's policies are in violation of Articles 1, 3, 4, and 23 of the Basic Law charter. Deutsche Welle, Germany's official state news agency, is complicit in denying fairness to what they call “far-right” views and parties. The far-left is perfectly legitimate though. With the election only 2 weeks away, the attacks on the AfD from the establishment are becoming desperate.

Dirty politics emerges to quash positive image of AfD leading candidate Alice Weidel. A 2013 email “has come to light” published in the September 10th Welt am Sonntag in which Weidel made “racist remarks” and "scorned democracy." The Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) is crying foul, claiming Weidel was not the email's author and that it is “a fake.”

The entire German government and political parties, plus the total German media, are against the rise of the AfD. Ms. Weidel, a lesbian with two children, has put forth a slightly more moderate, professional image. The release of the email is intended to counter that. 

It reportedly described German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government as "pigs" who were nothing more than "puppets of WWII allies," [all true] and that Merkel's government was given the task of limiting the population of the German "Volk." As we know, if you use the word “volk” you are considered a Nazi in Germany. The email also uses the word Überfremdung, which roughly translates to "foreign infiltration," which is considered xenophobic. And it contained these words:

The reason why we are overrun by culturally foreign people such as Arabs, Sinti and Roma is the systematic destruction of civil society as a possible counterweight from the enemies of the constitution by whom we are governed.

The email was signed “Lille” – a nickname known to be used by Weidel at the time, when she first became politically active in the Wahlalternative 2013, the precursor party to the AfD.

Welt am Sonntag said it had an affidavit and other statements from people who were part of Weidel's personal and professional network at the time that proved it came from her. Will the German voters who are currently supporting the AfD candidates fall for this? I would think not but we'll find out on September 24th.

Farage addressed AfD Berlin rally Friday. UKIP leader Nigel Farage reportedly accepted "without hesitation" the invitation to speak and also take part in a press conference with Beatrix von Storch, AfD deputy leader and a member of Farage's group in the European parliament.

During his address, Farage said the German candidates for chancellor [Merkel and Schultz] had failed to discuss Brexit as it was a "huge embarrassment for the European dream that both of them have had."

Farage said he believed Chancellor Angela Merkel would probably be better for Brexit as she was more likely to agree to a free trade deal between Britain and the EU. Martin Schulz (SPD), Farage said, as a previous president of the European Parliament, was a "pro-EU fanatic." Schulz has accused the AfD of right-wing extremism and employing rhetoric from the 1920s and 1930s.

In latest polling, the Alternative for Germany anti-immigrant party has risen once again to now stand at around 11%. It could become the third largest political party in Germany after the federal elections later this month.

Orban holds firm. Hungary will continue to reject migrants after the European Court of Justice upheld Brussel's refugee quotas. Hungarian Prime minister Viktor Orban said the ruling "was not a reason to change" the country's immigration policy. "The court's ruling does not require Hungary to do anything", he told Hungarian public radio.

However, the EU policy requires Hungary to take in 1,294 refugees or face fines. Orban pledged to fight on with political means. Orban said Juncker's view of EU solidarity would transform Hungary into an immigrant country, against the will of the people. He insisted that Hungary is not an immigrant country and that Hungary did not have a "colonial legacy" unlike many Western European nations. 

"These major member states have become immigrant countries, due to the obligations stemming from their colonial legacy. Hungary on the other hand... does not want to become an immigrant country and cannot accept being forced to change this."

"In my view, this is not solidarity, this is violence," the Hungarian prime minister said. The "real battle (against Brussels) is just beginning."

Merkel would not change her 2015 decision on refugees. On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel again defended her resolution two years ago to provide refuge to those fleeing from warfare in Syria and other countries.

"I would take all the important decisions of 2015 the same way again," she told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper, saying they had been necessary to "avert a humanitarian catastrophe."

However, she admitted that EU law at the time had been inadequate for dealing with the enormous refugee influx that ensued.

"It is unacceptable that Greece and Italy should have to carry the burden alone only because they have the geographical location that they do and the refugees land in them," she told the Welt am Sonntag.

Instead, refugees should be distributed among the EU member states in solidarity, she said.