Last Thursday, eight German patriotic activists were prevented from traveling to Italy to attend an international remigration conference. They were detained for eight hours by border police, who justified the intervention by claiming that the trip could damage the “reputation” of the German government.
Today, Germany is one of the European countries where democracy is visibly in decline. While violent left-wing extremist movements are allowed to operate freely, the freedom-oriented opposition party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is under surveillance by the domestic intelligence agency. The situation is serious – and has even drawn the attention of the Trump administration.
I therefore contacted Anna Rathert, a member of the German parliament responsible for international affairs. She told me she has recently submitted an official inquiry to the government: What measures do they plan to take to safeguard freedom of speech in Germany? A country that loves to preach democracy – but increasingly tramples on it itself.
Christian Peterson
Share this post