Right-wing extremist Martin Sellner campaigned for a “remigration” plan in Potsdam, and the city is now considering an entry ban. However he wants to come.

End of constant speaking tours? The Austrian far-right Martin Sellner Photo: Georg Hochmuth, dpa

SEDAN taz | In reality, things seem to be getting serious for the Austrian far-right Martin Sellner: the federal police confirmed to the taz that the immigration authorities of the city of Potsdam are considering banning the 35-year-old man from entering. Sellner attracted attention because he is said to have presented a “remigration” plan to expel millions of people from Germany at a “secret meeting” of AfD members and other right-wing extremists near Potsdam in November 2023.

A spokeswoman for the city of Potsdam said she could not comment on personal administrative processes. But: “We can confirm that, according to information from the federal security authorities, the state capital is checking whether the statements made in Potsdam, the venue of the meeting, pose a threat to security and public order.” “We are also examining how repetitions can be avoided under local jurisdiction using legal means,” the spokeswoman said.

The mayor of Potsdam, Mike Schubert (SPD), stressed: “If you want to avoid an unjust state, you must resort to the rule of law.” Its spokesperson stressed that the city “is in principle willing to use all constitutional means at its disposal and support them to achieve “Prevent threats to security and public order.” However, this will only be done in close coordination with the authorities of security at the federal and state level of Brandenburg.

Brandenburg Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) said of a possible entry ban on Sellner: “If Potsdam feels responsible, it can control it. However, it is important that such a measure be ordered in a legally safe manner and can withstand judicial review.”

Apparently a search is underway, Sellner wants to come

High Mirror A few days ago, the federal police registered a denial of entry to Sellner in their internal database of wanted persons, in reference to a forecast of danger. Federal police declined to comment when asked. However, a formal entry ban for EU citizens faces major obstacles. It must be specifically demonstrated that there is a real risk of crimes being committed during the stay.

A week and a half ago, the Federal Ministry of the Interior had already declared at a private meeting of the Interior Commission in the Bundestag that the possibility of banning Sellner from entering Germany was being studied. At the same time, the anti-Gypsy commissioner of the federal government, Mehmet Daimagüler, and the left-wing politician Martina Renner publicly represented this demand. A spokeswoman for the Bavarian Interior Ministry also told the taz that they welcomed “the initiated debate.”

Sellner himself, the face of the Identitarians, classified as right-wing extremists, described the imminent entry ban as a “hysterical excess.” The far-right AfD, Björn Höcke, also supported the Austrian and described the process as “ridiculous.”

Sellner announced that he wanted to test a possible entry ban and travel to Passau for coffee on Monday afternoon. But a few days ago, the far-right already suspected that there would be a “prohibition offensive” against the right-wing panorama, he feared. Sellner had already been banned from entering Britain in 2018.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said at a weekend commemoration of the victims of National Socialism at the Ravensbrück memorial that they would prevent “people from being systematically deprived of their rights, expelled, persecuted and killed in Germany never again.” We must oppose those who “are based on exclusion, racism and discrimination.”