Far-right activist Sellner's 'remigration institute' targets Saxony-Anhalt
The Austrian activist's strategy paper also targets German citizens. A legal scholar sees clear links to the AfD; refugee advocates are alarmed.
Symbolic image · Photo: Wolfgang Pehlemann Germany / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de (cropped and resized)
Since late August, Germany has had an “Institute for Remigration,” founded by Austrian activist Martin Sellner, one of the leading figures of the far-right Identitarian Movement. Its official seat is in Magdeburg, with a business address in Chemnitz. In a 49-page strategy paper, the institute describes how Saxony-Anhalt could become a “model state for remigration.” Its target groups include people without secure residence status, “non-assimilated” foreigners and even German citizens with a “considerable linguistic, cultural or social distance from the majority society.”
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) officially lists the Identitarian Movement as incompatible with party membership. But according to the analysis, Sellner and AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund both attended a 2023 meeting on “remigration” in Potsdam, and Sellner has appeared repeatedly with AfD members. The institute says it wants to be financially independent of any future AfD state government.
Legal scholar Dana Schmalz of the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg said: “The document expresses a dangerous, ethno-nationalist understanding.” She added: “There are clear links between the Institute for Remigration and the AfD.” The refugee council fears the AfD could treat the paper as a blueprint should it come to lead Saxony-Anhalt's state government.