Introduction In September 2022, right-wing demonstrations against energy sanctions took place in Germany, especially in the east, including in the small town of Lubmin, seat of a gas terminal. The AfD tried to thematize the same topic at the parliamentary level. Neo-Nazis from Germany also took part in events abroad in September 2022, but the German government partly prevented them from leaving the country.
Updates in the National Landscape
Larger right-wing open to right-wing dominated demonstrations took place in September 2022 mainly in smaller eastern German cities. For example, 6,500 people demonstrated in Plauen on September 25.
In the state of Saxony alone, police counted 31,800 participants at 103 demonstrations on September 26, 2022. On September 19, 2022, there had still been around 20,000 people. On September 5, 2022, both leftists and rightists demonstrated separately in Leipzig against rising energy prices and the cost of inflation. The extreme right (including the “Free Saxons”) also tried to participate in the left-wing demonstration, but was blocked. Thus, 4,000 leftists and 1,500 rightists demonstrated separately.
On September 3, 2022, a first demonstration with 1,800 people took place in the small town of Lubmin on the Baltic Sea for the opening of the German-Russian pipeline “Nordstream II”, which had been closed in the wake of sanctions against Russia. The participants were a mixture of AfD, other extreme rightists and conspiracy theorists. The event was registered by a member of the party “die Basis”, which belongs to the spectrum of pandemic deniers. (German: https://katapult-mv.de/artikel/1-800-menschen-fordern-in-lubmin-die-oeffnung-von-nord-stream-2)
On September 25, 2022, also in Lubmin (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), the terminal location of the pipeline “Nordstream II”, another right-wing demonstration for the opening of Nordstream 2 took place, attended by 3,000 to 3,500 people. The speaker was Andreas Kalbitz, a member of the state parliament who has been expelled from the AfD.
(German: https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/mecklenburg-vorpommern/Lubmin-Demonstranten-fordern-Oeffnung-von-Nord-Stream-2,nordstream800.html)
On September 7, 2022, the attempt failed a lawsuit by Alexander Deptolla (“Die Rechte”) against the ban of the neo-Nazi martial arts event “Kampf der Nibelungen” before the Administrative Court of Dresden. If this remains the case, there should be no more publicly advertised neo-Nazi martial arts event for the foreseeable future. (German: https://www.endstation-rechts.de/news/kampf-der-nibelungen-klage-um-aufhebung-des-verbotes-abgewiesen)
Transnational Developments on Discourse in Mainstream Media The electoral successes of right-wing parties in Sweden and Italy were also commented on and discussed in the German media. With regard to Italy, an important point of discussion was how fascist the election winner Meloni is.
Transnational Social Media Activity & Propaganda/Narratives In the AfD, there was great jubilation over the election success of the “Sweden Democrats” at 11th of September 2022. After the election victory of the right-wing parties, especially the “Fratelli d’Italia”, in Italy on September 25, 2022, numerous officials of the AfD congratulated the election winner Giorgio Meloni.
Transnational Political and Financial Cooperation From September 1 to 4, 2022, the neo-Nazi festival “Ritorno a Camelot” took place in northwest Italy. The German bands “True Aggression” and “Burning Hate” were announced for this event. While the German bands “True Aggression” and “Burning Hate” could not leave, the neo-Nazi activist Patrick Schröder participated in the “Ritorno a Camelot” as a speaker. In the last three months, the German state prevented at least three right-wing rock bands (“True Aggression”, “Sleipnir”, “Endstufe”) from performing on stages abroad by issuing exit bans. The reason given is that these individuals would damage the reputation of the Federal Republic of Germany abroad through their performance. (German: https://www.endstation-rechts.de/news/neonazi-bands-mit-reiseverboten-ausgebremst, https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/panorama/bundespolizei-verhinderte-auslandsreisen-von-49-rechtsextremisten-8518768.html)
On September 10, 2022, the new-right author Volker Zierke (“Holger Birke”) gave a presentation on his literary books “Enclave” and “Into the Blue” at “Club 451” in Belgrade (Serbia). Also there was his comrade Benedikt Kaiser. Kaiser met in Belgrade with the Serbian right-winger Dušan Dostanić, a research fellow at the “Institute for Political Studies.”
The summer party of the AfD youth organization “Junge Alternative” in Baden-Württemberg on September 10, 2022 was also attended by representatives of the “Jeunes Marines Alsace” from France, such as Paul Renkert or Pierre Pinto.
In the week of September 19-25, 2022, the three AfD state parliament members Hans-Thomas Tillschneider (Saxony-Anhalt), Daniel Wald (Saxony-Anhalt) and Christian Blex (NRW) planned to travel to the Russian-occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, but canceled the trip after internal party criticism. Party chairman Tino Chrupalla and his co-chairwoman Alice Weidel were not informed about the travel plans. (German: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/reise-von-russland-organisiert-afd-politiker-fahren-in-besetzte-ostukraine-8661370.html)
On September 22 and 23, 2022, the conference “Visions of European Union’s Future” took place in Warsaw. Speakers from Germany were Dieter Stein from the right-wing weekly newspaper “Junge Freiheit” and Simon Wunder from “Renovatio Europa”.
Some far right Hooligans from Hungary tried to attack a „friday for future“-rally in Leipzig at 23th of September. The attackers were from the groups „Hun loves Mary“, „Betyársereg“ and „Légió Hungária“.
At anti-government protests on September 27, 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic, Christine Anderson (AfD MEP) and Petr Bystroň (AfD MP), child of Czech refugees, also participated as speakers.
On September 29, 2022, the right-wing antifeminist Jordan B. Peterson from Canada.
Against the appearance 300 antifas and feminists demonstrated. (German: https://www.belltower.news/jung-maennlich-antifeministisch-jordan-peterson-bittet-seine-fans-in-berlin-zur-kasse-139729/)
For the October 2022 issue of the NPD magazine “Deutsche Stimme”, Mark Collett, the chairman of the “Patriotic Alternative”, had himself interviewed from Great Britain.