The political party that made gains in regional polls is defended by its leaders, while the German security services brand it “right-wing extremist.”
The far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) has said it will expel three of its members who have been detained on suspicion of having joined an “extremist” paramilitary group.
The political party's announcement comes after eight people were arrested and at least 20 properties were searched during a police operation on Tuesday.
The operation targeted Saxon separatists, a group that authorities consider a domestic “terrorist organization.” It was founded in November 2020 and is driven by racist ideology and conspiracy theories.
Members had been training in the war for the fall of the modern German state before hundreds of police attacked locations linked to it in eastern Germany, neighboring Poland and also Austria.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Tuesday that police operations had thwarted “militant coup plans in the early stages” and investigators said the group was planning to establish a new system in the east of the country inspired by Nazism. .
Der Spiegel magazine reported Wednesday that Tuesday's police raids also uncovered unregistered weapons, ammunition (including Kalashnikov cartridges) and silencers, as well as the shell casing of a mortar shell.
The AfD leadership in the eastern state of Saxony confirmed the exclusion of three party members, partially naming them in a statement as Kurt H, Hans-Georg P and Kevin R.
A statement from the party said: “No matter in whose name the Saxon separatists have been operating, there is no place for them in our party of freedom, peace and national sovereignty.”
AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla added that an extraordinary meeting of the party leadership would be held on Wednesday with the sole aim of excluding the three men.
In Germany, political parties must prove a serious violation in order to expel a member.
Weidel and Chrupalla said the AfD defends “the liberal democratic order and has nothing to do with this group suspected of being neo-Nazi.”
Meanwhile, the party's leader in Saxony, Joerg Urban, stated that the AfD “rejects any form of violence in the political debate” and that “preparations for violent acts or coups are also unacceptable.”
In September, the anti-immigrant AfD party won regional elections in the eastern state of Thuringia, the first for a far-right party since World War II. It also performed well in neighboring Saxony.
But German security services have branded the party's local branches in Thuringia and Saxony “right-wing extremists” and its leader Bjorn Hocke has been fined twice for using Nazi slogans.
