German far-right dumps top aide over neo-Nazi scandal

Roland Hartwig, a close aide to the far-right Alternative for Germany’s co-leader Alice Weidel, is no longer working with the party’s boss.

Hartwig and Weidel terminated their collaboration “with immediate effect and by mutual agreement,” German public broadcaster ZDF reported late Monday, quoting Alternative for Germany (AfD) “circles,” after he was found to have attended a meeting with neo-Nazi activists.

The AfD, notorious for its extreme anti-immigration positions, has become increasingly popular in recent months amid unrest over migration. According to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls, it is currently the second political force in the country, behind the center-right CDU.

Hartwig, a former member of the German Bundestag who later became Weidel’s right-hand man, was one of several officials from the far-right party to attend a meeting of right-wing extremists at a hotel near Berlin in November, where they discussed a “master plan” to deport millions of people, including migrants and “unassimilated citizens,” according to a report from German investigative outlet Correctiv published last week.

Two members of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) also attended the meeting, according to the report.

News of the meeting quickly drew parallels to similar plans made by the Nazis, causing a storm in a country which remains deeply scarred by its past.

The scandal triggered widespread outrage against the AfD, while the party sought to distance itself from the meeting.

Thousands of people took to the streets across the country to march against the far right, amid mounting calls from mainstream politicians to issue an outright ban against the AfD.