The Spreading Far-Right and the Symbolism of Dresden’s “Nazi Emergency”
On 30 October 2019, the Dresden city council passed a resolution declaring a “Nazi emergency”. This move is symbolic, however, its interpretation could have major repercussions for the continued success of far-right parties in Dresden, and, more generally, for international politics.
Dresden is the second largest city in Saxony, a northeastern German state. Since the 1990s, Dresden has been an epicenter for neo-Nazi movements and the far-right. In 1999, on the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Dresden by the Royal Air Force during World War II, neo-Nazis organized a commemorative march which became known as the “mourning march”. By 2007, it became the largest neo-Nazi demonstration in Europe. More recently, Dresden was the birthplace of PEGIDA, the “Patriotische Europäer Gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes” (or, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West). Forming in October of 2014, PEGIDA has led weekly marches in Dresden against the waves of Islamic refugees entering Germany. Dresden has also seen a spike in support for the far-right party of Germany, the AfD, or “Alternative für Deutschland” (or, Alternative for Germany). Elections held in September in Saxony saw a 17.8% boost in support for the party, which led to an overall 27.5% of the vote going to the AfD. For the past two decades, Dresden has been a hotspot for racist rhetoric and neo-Nazi movements in Germany. This has led to the declaration of a Nazi emergency with a vote of 39-29 in the city council.
So, what does a Nazi emergency entail?
Dresden has claimed “Nazinostand”. The councilor who proposed the motion for consideration, Max Aschenbach, equated the idea of a Nazi emergency to a climate emergency, in that it is a pressing issue that must be brought to public attention. Mr. Aschenbach, when speaking about the motion wrote that “open democratic society is threatened [by Nazism]”. The motion asks that Dresden recognizes the increasing frequency and affect that the far right and extremists are having. Geared towards anti-Semitism and anti-Islamic sentiments, the motion hopes to work towards protecting human rights, and stopping violence against minorities. There are, however, no tangible aspects of the resolution, as it is mostly symbolic in nature.
There was opposition to the measure within the council. Left and liberal parties in Dresden voted for the motion, but the AfD and the CDU, the Christian Democratic Union, both voted against the motion. The CDU is the party to which Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkle belongs. The CDU argued that the motion is too severe, and should not specify right-wing extremism but all forms of violence. The party even called the motion a “stunt,” saying it was an “intended provocation.”
The concept of a “Nazi Emergency” extends far outside the borders of Dresden, and even Germany. The problem of the far right has become a problem to do with international politics itself. Far right movements have become more prevalent across the entire globe.
There are three countries in Europe whose far-right parties’ control more than 25% of the votes in their respective parliaments: Hungary, Austria, and Switzerland. In Spain, the far-right party VOX doubled its seats in the parliament during the most recent election. This is particularly interesting because the party only entered the political sphere for its first election in April of this year. Its popularity has grown immensely over the last six months of campaigning. In France’s most recent Presidential election, presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen brought a lot of attention to nationalism and the far-right in France, but was eventually defeated by Emmanuel Macron.
This movement is also happening on other continents. The recent Bolivian political occurrences, including the resignation of President Evo Morales and Jeanine Áñez’s declaration of her presidency, is a distinct movement towards the far-right. Several of Áñez’s views are racist and anti-indigenous. In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, is acknowledged as far-right and has even been named the “Trump of the Tropics” by Brazilian media.
These are less well-known faces amongst those that receive more media attention, such as Narendra Modi of India, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey. Extremist and popularist politics are receiving more attention and more far-right politicians are being elected worldwide. Dresden is only one example of the traction far right movements have gained globally in the last decade. However, they are the first town to acknowledge the affect that far right extremism has had. Though the Nazinostand is symbolic in nature, through the attention that it brings to the impact of the rise of neo-Nazism and far right parties, it could have a larger impact that initially thought.
