Right-wing demonstrations dealt with as a personal issue by AFD Regensburg
In Regensburg, Vadim Derksen, a board member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), has come under scrutiny for his associations with far-right individuals and groups, particularly the Identitarian Movement (IB), a nationalist group with ethnonationalist and anti-immigration ideologies.
Derksen's ties to the IB are multifaceted, encompassing ideological alignment and social-political connections. Derksen and his close associates share the IB's anti-immigration stance and nationalist rhetoric, as evident in overlapping activities, shared platforms, or mutual support within regional far-right networks.
Recent reports indicate that Derksen marched with IB activists in Freilassing in early January, under the rallying cry "We are the border" and featuring slogans such as "Merkel must go" and "ethnic replacement".
The IB, originally classified as right-wing ideological fragments by the Bavarian Interior Ministry in 2014, is now under observation by the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The group is also classified as right-wing extremist by the constitutional protection offices of Berlin, Lower Saxony, and Bremen.
Unfortunately, Derksen is not alone in his associations with the IB. Lorenz Maierhofer, a representative of the IB, has a history as an anti-anti-fascist photographer and activist in the now-banned neo-Nazi camaraderie "Free Network South".
The chairman of AfD Regensburg, Christoph Schikora, has demonstrated issues with press freedom in the past. In 2014, at an event with Hans-Olaf Henkel, Schikora was reported to have snatched a camera from one of the photographers.
Despite these concerns, none of the four chairmen of the Regensburg AfD are willing to answer questions about Derksen's participation in the IB march and their position towards the Identitarian Movement.
In a related development, Verena Brüdigam, a member of the federal board and the most well-known face of the Upper Palatinate AfD, has retreated from the Regensburg district. The AfD Upper Palatinate, however, has had special sympathies for Björn Höcke, an AfD board member with racist theses who initiated the movement "The Wing" to drive a more nationalist orientation of the AfD.
For more detailed or updated information, it might be helpful to consult recent investigative reports or monitoring organisations that track far-right activities in Germany.
The connections between Vadim Derksen and the Identitarian Movement (IB), a right-wing extremist group, have come under scrutiny due to their shared anti-immigration stance and nationalist rhetoric. This extremist group, formerly classified as right-wing ideological fragments, is now under observation by the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution and has been classified as such by several constitutional protection offices.
