Andreas Kalbitz since 2017 was a member of the AfD federal executive board. On February 13 it was announced that he - along with Björn Höcke and Hans-Thomas Tillschneider - had been under surveillance by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution since the beginning of the year.
By Carolyn Yeager
GERMANY'S AfD PARTY VOTED TO EXPEL THEIR BRANDENBURG STATE LEADER Friday over his past connections with an alleged “neo-nazi” youth movement, despite Andreas Kalbitz' denial that he was ever a member. The vote was close: 7-5 with one abstention.
The current co-leaders of the AfD are Joerg Meuthen and Tino Chrupalla. Other top national leaders include Beatrix von Storch, Alice Weidel, Alexander Gauland and Stephan Brandner. Gauland, age 79, retired from the leadership position last year, but is still Federal Parliamentary Leader along with Weidel.
Kalbitz, 47, is a close ally to Bjoern Hoecke, AfD state leader in Thuringia. Both are considered influential figures in the party and credited with building the greater popularity the AfD enjoys in the eastern part of Germany. They are associated with a more revisionist interpretation of Germany's war-time history; in 2007 (13 years ago) Kalbitz was photographed at an event hosted by the HDJ (Heimattreuen Deutschen Jugend), an alleged neo-Nazi youth movement that has since been banned. It was legal at the time. Kalbitz claims he was never a member and didn't play a part, although it was possible his name might be found on one of their old lists.
The AfD has come under growing scrutiny from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency in direct proportion to its growing success in gaining parliamentary seats in state and federal elections. The other parties, all to the left of the AfD, do everything in their power to block, mock and conspire against the most successful nationalist party in Germany. The political parties and the chancellor's office work together in opposition to the AfD. In response, the AfD national board has sought to distance itself from 'extremists' in its membership, and instituted rules that no former member of a “neo-nazi” youth group can join the AfD. The board rejected Kalbitz' claim that he was never a member of the HDJ.
Kalbitz has said he will fight the decision and "exhaust all legal options" to overrule his expulsion.
Alexander Gauland told public broadcaster ZDF that the decision was “wrong and very dangerous for the party.” By which I think he means they will lose votes in the east thereby, without gaining any in the west, and discourage and disappoint an important segment of the party base. It also sets a precedent for losing an independent spirit within their membership. Gauland, being a seasoned German politician, knows what he's talking about.
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Zionists Rule (Germany)
Jett Rucker
The German government is literally fragmenting its opposition.
Well put.
carolyn
That is exactly what that "Beacon of Democracy", the "freest Germany in history" is doing. Worse than Putin.
To make sure everyone gets it, this is as undemocratic behavior as it gets, short of federal troops locking down the population in their homes.
Spying on their political opposition, right out in the open. This is what the Democrats did to Pres. Trump ... even while he was occupying the Oval Office! How blatant can it be?
Gauland a good German
Richard Edmonds
Alexander Gauland told public broadcaster ZDF that the decision to expel Andreas Kalbitz was “wrong and very dangerous for the party.”
Gauland is a good man and a good and brave German. It was Gauland (as reported on this site) who publicly condemned as a Member of the German Parliament, the proposal for Germany to officially "celebrate" as a public holiday Germany's surrender on the 8th. May 1945, the circumstances being: mass-murder, mass-rape, mass-theft, mass-starvation, mass arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, mass-expropriations, mass-explusions, the massive loss of German territories and the loss of Germany's sovereignty.
As for Andreas Kalbitz, presumably he will find means to continue his campaigns for Truth and Justice for Germany. Good luck to him.
Do the Japanese and Italians
HX23
Do the Japanese and Italians celebrate such a holiday for surrendering in WW2? Is there any other country that celebrates surrendering? Germans need a real good gut-check if this goes through. I hope not.
Too bad they think it's so
Bruce Hain
Too bad they think it's so important to keep burnishing their anti-NAZI credentials. There has to be some degree of honesty or there can be no change. Wish for outspoken to call them out on the hypocrisy But look what happens to Trump. Biden just claimed has outdone Trump in fundraising, but then this may just be the next logical step lying. From the Holocaust on, they have compiled so many "unassailable truths" it's hard to know where to start.