German city of Dresden declares 'Nazi crisis' amid growing fears over far-right extremism

Supporters of the Pegida movement rally in Dresden in 2015
Getty Images
Rebecca Speare-Cole2 November 2019

The German city of Dresden has declared a "Nazi crisis" saying it is facing a growing problem with far-right extremism.

The capital of Saxony is the birthplace of the anti-Islam Pegida movement and has long been considered a bastion for the far-right.

The anti-migrant group Pediga and the far-right Alternative for Germany party received more than 17 per cent of the vote in city council elections this year.

Now Dresden councillors have passed a resolution aimed at strengthening democracy and protecting minorities.

German news agency dpa reported that city councillors passed the motion this week with the headline "Nazi crisis?" warning that anti-democratic, extremist views and even violence were becoming increasingly apparent in Dresden.

Local councillor Max Aschenbach, who tabled the motion, told the BBC: "'Nazinotstand' means - similar to the climate emergency - that we have a serious problem. The open democratic society is threatened."

Mr Aschenbach, of the left-leaning satirical political party Die Partei, said he believed action was necessary because politicians were not doing enough to "position themselves clearly" against the far-right.

The resolution acknowledges that "right-wing extremist attitudes and actions... are occurring with increasing frequency", he said.

Mr Aschenbach's resolution was put to a vote by Dresden's city council on Wednesday night and approved by 39 votes to 29, according to local media reports.

It was supported by members of the Left Party, the environmentalist Greens, the centre-left Social Democrats, the pro-business Free Democrats and a satirical party known simply as The Party.

But Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right Christian Democrats voted against the motion.

"From our point of view, this was primarily an intended provocation," Jan Donhauser, chairman of the CDU City Council Group, also told the broadcaster.

Mr Donhauser added that the "vast majority" of Dresdeners were "neither right-wing extremists nor anti-democratic".

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