As of: March 27, 2024, 11:07 a.m
By: Nils Hinsberger
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The Green faction in Völklingen is on the verge of elimination, and two party members are now switching to the AfD.
The city council group is demanding immediate resignation.
Völklingen - Two local politicians from the Saarland Greens are said to be running for another party shortly before the local elections in June - namely the AfD.
The unusual party change is explained by Dr.
Gerold Fischer, a member of the Green faction in the Völklingen city council, with his criticism of the arms deliveries to Ukraine supported by the Green parliamentary group, reported the
Saarbrücker Zeitung
.
Long-time local politician Wolfgang Lorenz is also switching to the AfD - the Greens report difficult cooperation in the past.
Because of “weapons deliveries to Ukraine” – Saar-Greens switches to AfD
The AfD is the only party that speaks out against “arms deliveries to Ukraine,” said Fischer.
He did not find this attitude in any other party program, which is why he left the Green Party last December.
Fischer told the
Saarbrücker Zeitung
that he joined the party more than 40 years ago when it was said to have been in a period of peace .
However, he remained a member of the Völklingen city council.
From the Greens to the AfD.
Two local politicians from Völklingen in Saarland are changing parties.
© Oliver Dietze/picture alliance/dpa
The AfD is said to have offered the ex-Green party third place on the list for the upcoming elections.
Despite the change of party, he continues to campaign “against hatred and incitement”.
Topics such as ecology, non-violence and grassroots democracy remain at the center of his politics even after changing parties.
His change of party is solely about a local political decision.
He does not support the federal AfD.
Völklingen Greens demand immediate resignation from the party - local council faction dissolves
The AfD is “not exactly known as a peace-oriented party,” said Green city council member Ursula Mayer.
Fischer is asked to leave the city council group.
But he assumes that he will be able to remain in office until the end of the current legislative period.
Up to this point, Lorenz had not made any statement regarding his departure from the party, reported
Saarländischer Rundfunk
(SR).
However, Mayer pointed out that “further cooperation was no longer possible”.
Because the AfD is a “right-wing extremist party whose positions are incompatible with the values of the Greens.”
Party expulsion proceedings against the local politician are said to have already been initiated.
The local council group of the Greens in Völklingen was dissolved.
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Mayer reported that working with Lorenz had already been difficult in the past.
He campaigned against the renaming of street names in Völklingen, which still bear the names of former German colonial masters to this day.
Among them are also names of people who, among other things, have been proven to have committed the genocide against the Herero ethnic group.
The SPD and CDU fear radicalization of the Saar-AfD
It is doubtful whether Schneider will be able to maintain his green sentiments if he switches to the AfD.
It was only in February that the
Saarbrücker Zeitung
reported that the state factions of the SPD and CDU considered it very likely that the Saar-AfD would be classified by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as “secure right-wing extremist”.
For the deputy parliamentary group leader of the SPD, Pascal Arweiler, it would be “not surprising” if the Office for the Protection of the Constitution came to such a verdict.
Stephan Toscani, chairman of the Saar CDU, even speaks of a radicalization of the Saarland AfD branch.
He bases this assessment primarily on the appearance of AfD state leader Carsten Becker.
According to
SR
information, he maintains close contact with right-wing extremist groups and appears in right-wing extremist media.
(nhi)