Political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) has lodged a criminal complaint against Chancellor Friedrich Merz, accusing him of defamation after he compared the party’s “remigration” policy to ethnic cleansing.
The dispute erupted following a heated Bundestag debate on Wednesday, when Merz said the AfD’s promotion of remigration effectively amounted to advocating “ethnic cleansing based on origin and skin color.”
The AfD parliamentary group, currently the largest opposition faction in the Bundestag, rejected the characterisation and argued that the chancellor had gone beyond the protections normally afforded to political speech in parliament.
AfD parliamentary secretary and legal counsel Stephan Brandner described Merz’s comments as baseless and offensive, claiming they targeted not only the party but millions of Germans who support it. He argued that the remarks had crossed a threshold carrying potential criminal consequences.
“Remigration” has become an increasingly prominent concept among European right-wing movements. Its meaning varies among proponents, but generally encompasses the removal of migrants without legal status and foreign nationals convicted of crimes, while some advocates apply the term more broadly to immigrants they consider inadequately integrated.
The confrontation follows the AfD’s emphatic victory in the Saxony-Anhalt regional election, where it secured 43.8% of the vote. Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which had long been a dominant political force in the state, finished a distant second with just over 17%.
Merz acknowledged that the result represented the CDU’s most severe electoral setback in decades but rejected calls for a fundamental change in direction, instead pledging to reinforce Germany’s political institutions and European ties.
National polling has also shown mounting pressure on the governing parties. The AfD has recorded support of around 28% in several surveys, while an INSA poll published in late August placed the CDU/CSU at 20% and found widespread dissatisfaction with Merz’s coalition.
Immigration remains at the centre of the political confrontation. Saxony-Anhalt AfD leader Ulrich Siegmund has openly spoken of a future “remigration and deportation drive,” presenting tougher removals as an issue of domestic security and state stability.
The dispute comes as politicians from other German parties continue debating whether legal proceedings should be pursued to ban the AfD. Federal authorities currently classify the party as a suspected right-wing extremist organisation for surveillance purposes, while some regional AfD branches face more extensive monitoring.
The criminal complaint against Merz now adds another legal dimension to Germany’s increasingly bitter political battle over immigration, the AfD’s growing electoral strength and the limits of acceptable parliamentary rhetoric.
Friedrich Merz served as chairman of the supervisory board of BlackRock’s German subsidiary from 2016 until 2020.
We all know how this blatant government corruption works.