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Marine Le Pen in Paris

Photo: REUTERS

Things sounded pretty rosy after the meeting between co-AfD leader Alice Weidel and Marine Le Pen from the French right-wing populist party Rassemblement National (RN).

“We discussed many political issues and found that we pursue the same approaches to solving the major problems of today,” wrote Weidel on Platform X. She thanked her for the “warm welcome” in Paris.

The RN party leader Jordan Bardella also took part in the conversation.

After a few days of silence, the RN has now also commented on the meeting - and the situation is somewhat different. Accordingly, Weidel had to undertake to soon explain her position on the topic of "remigration" and the highly controversial meeting in Potsdam.

The RN demanded a “written commitment” that guarantees that “remigration” will never be part of the AfD program.

This is reported by several French media outlets, including “L'Opinion” and “France Info”, citing RN MP Thibaut François.

The right-wing nationalist Le Pen publicly distanced herself from the AfD in January after the meeting of extreme right-wing extremists in Potsdam was announced by the media company “Correctiv”.

Some AfD politicians as well as individual members of the CDU and the ultra-right “Values ​​Union” took part.

The figurehead of the right-wing extremist “Identitarian Movement” in Austria, Martin Sellner, said he spoke about “remigration” there.

When right-wing extremists use the term, they usually mean that a large number of people with a migration history should leave the country - even under duress.

Le Pen then made critical comments about the AfD.

The French politician said at the time that she saw herself in clear contradiction to what was said to have been discussed there.

This is primarily about ideas about a so-called remigration policy that the AfD is pursuing.

Le Pen absolutely disagrees with this.

The AfD had denied that it supported the deportation of German citizens with a migration background.

In the European Parliament, the RN and AfD belong together to the right-wing populist and post-fascist faction Identity and Democracy, whose members also include the Lega in Italy and the FPÖ in Austria.

Le Pen wants to make another attempt to win the presidential election in France in 2027.

The AfD is in second place nationwide in polls in Germany, with 17 percent, according to a new Forsa survey.

A conflict between both parties would significantly weaken the group in the European Parliament.

ipp/Reuters