On 5 February, the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) candidate, Thomas Kemmerich, was officially appointed to the position of Thuringia’s Minister-President, relying on the votes of both the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the populist far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. The latter congratulated itself for being at the bottom of concessions made by the… Continue reading “In Bed with the Far Right in Thuringia: A Watershed Moment for Muslim CDU supporters?”
The activities of vigilante groups should be contained before far-right groups add fuel to the fire. A wave of violent activities has been unleashed on the Greek islands and the Greek-Turkish land border, with vigilantes targeting NGOs, journalists, and migrants. Who are these new vigilantes? How are they connected to far-right organizations? The decision of… Continue reading “Far-right vigilantism at Europe’s borders: the Greek experience”
Locals in the Greek island of Lesbos went from being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for welcoming refugees five years ago to hurling racist slurs today. On March 1st, a video made its appearance on the media. The location: the village of Thermi, in the Greek island of Lesbos. In the video, one can clearly observe… Continue reading “How Greece Went From Welcoming To Demonizing Refugees”
To prevent such developments, mainstream parties need to shape political discourse, instead of being shaped by it. In August 2017, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alexander Gauland proposed to ‘dispatch’ the then Federal Commissioner for Immigration, Refugees and Integration, Aydan Özoğuz (SPD), back to Anatolia. Some weeks later, the AfD party entered the German… Continue reading “Merkel’s dilemma: Germany’s polarising ‘Turkish issue’ returns”
Özil, like many others, has repeatedly stated that he would prefer to play for both national football teams if international football regulations made it possible. The recent case of Mesut Özil has shown a severe rupture in relations between German-Turks and German natives, which has been a long time coming, but went unrecognized while the… Continue reading “Radical right backlash against Games of Belonging: the case of Mesut Özil”