![Far-right firebrand Hoecke draws crowds in eastern Germany](https://www.americanmarconiwirelessnews.com/media/shared/articles/d3/5f/34/Far-right-firebrand-Hoecke-draws-cr-426100.jpg)
-
Harris, Trump target swing states after fierce debate
-
Ten Hag hits back at Ronaldo criticism over Man Utd ambition
-
Oscar hopefuls to bookend US French film festival
-
UN chief calls for 'courage' ahead of Summit of the Future
-
French rugby federation blames 'poorly managed' supervision for youth player drowning
-
Movie producer Harvey Weinstein indicted on new charges: US media
-
Ex-Scotland captain Hogg to miss Montpellier match after bail release
-
'Historic': Bad weather slashes wine harvest in France's Jura
-
ECB rate cut boosts European stocks, euro
-
Piastri not 'pulling over' for Norris at every race
-
'Energised' Tebogo looking to close season with Diamond League bang
-
Millions in SE Asia battle floods, death toll passes 250
-
Fiat 500 electric production pauses for one month
-
London Fashion Week opens with Charli XCX party and second-hand runways
-
ECB cuts rates again, Lagarde backs EU reform call
-
Storm Francine downgraded but still drenching US south
-
Everton say 'work to be done' on Textor takeover
-
Shelling kills 3 Red Cross workers in E.Ukraine
-
Shelling kills 3 Red Cross workers killed in E.Ukraine
-
Iran president makes 'historic' visit to Iraqi Kurdistan
-
Brigitte Macron awarded damages over false trans claim
-
ECB rate cut boosts Europeans stocks, euro
-
Deadly Israeli strike on Gaza school draws global condemnation
-
Russia recaptures part of Kursk region
-
Bike-loving Dutch grapple with 'fatbike' phenomena
-
Ahead of Champions League warm-up, PSG are soaring and Brest slumping
-
ECB cuts rates again as inflation slows
-
Denmark's von Trier to direct a new film
-
Arteta agrees new Arsenal deal
-
Jon Bon Jovi helps woman standing on edge of US bridge
-
SpaceX makes history with first spacewalks by private citizens
-
England's Livingstone 'feels like a kid again' after injury setbacks
-
Brazil urges EU to suspend 'punitive' anti-deforestation law
-
Myanmar residents flee deadly floods in boats and on makeshift rafts
-
Power struggle and chaotic player trading: What's going at Chelsea?
-
Blinken seeks common cause in Poland after Ukraine jitters
-
Stocks rally on cooler US inflation, before ECB rate call
-
Spanish PM meets Venezuelan opposition figure amid tensions
-
McLaren set to introduce team orders to support Norris title bid
-
Tottenham's Bentancur charged with misconduct over remarks about teammate Son
-
UniCredit CEO says Commerzbank takeover an option: Bloomberg
-
Pogacar aims to conquer Canada before cycling worlds
-
UK military urged to stop using bearskin hats on cost grounds
-
New Queen Elizabeth II statue panned in Northern Ireland
-
Ireland launches EU privacy probe into Google AI development
-
Irish skipper Tom Dolan wins Solitaire du Figaro sailing race
-
Boats carry terrified children to safety in Thai floods
-
Tropical Storm Francine batters US state of Louisiana
-
Arteta agrees new Arsenal deal: reports
-
Iran president arrives in Iraqi Kurdistan on day two of visit
RBGPF | 4.7% | 59.81 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.32% | 25.16 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.32% | 25.21 | $ | |
SCS | 0.6% | 13.42 | $ | |
BP | 0.89% | 31.57 | $ | |
NGG | -0.44% | 69.015 | $ | |
GSK | -1.3% | 43.21 | $ | |
BCC | 2.23% | 124.87 | $ | |
RIO | 0.69% | 61.635 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.56% | 6.4 | $ | |
JRI | -0.08% | 13.17 | $ | |
BTI | -0.66% | 38.865 | $ | |
RELX | 1.08% | 47.665 | $ | |
AZN | -2.18% | 78.81 | $ | |
VOD | -0.2% | 10.02 | $ | |
BCE | -0.23% | 35.11 | $ |
![Far-right firebrand Hoecke draws crowds in eastern Germany](https://www.americanmarconiwirelessnews.com/media/shared/articles/d3/5f/34/Far-right-firebrand-Hoecke-draws-cr-426100.jpg)
Far-right firebrand Hoecke draws crowds in eastern Germany
German far-right politician Bjoern Hoecke has caused outrage with his inflammatory Nazi rhetoric, but the controversy has not deterred his supporters in the eastern town of Sonneberg.
Hoecke was greeted with rapturous applause as he appeared at a rally to drum up support for the far-right AfD in the town this month ahead of a key regional election.
Hoecke, 52, a former history teacher, is the head of the AfD in Thuringia, one of three former East German states going to the polls in September.
The location of the rally was calculated -- the AfD caused a sensation in Sonneberg last year when it secured its first district administrator position there in all of Germany.
Now, the party is hoping to win a state election for the first time -- and with polls putting it in the lead on around 30 percent, that goal looks well within reach.
Hoecke was fined twice this year for using a banned Nazi slogan and has previously caused controversy with statements such as calling Berlin's Holocaust monument a "memorial of shame".
But he did not hold back as he addressed a crowd of around 200 people in Sonneberg, decrying how Thuringia had become "a magnet for migrants" and accusing the opposition of "fascist methods".
- 'Remigration' -
In the front row, a 19-year-old plastics industry worker who gave his name only as Kemi was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Hoecke for chancellor".
"His speech is very informative and he has the right vision for Germany," he said, adding that there were "too many misunderstandings about him."
"Everyone has the right to express their opinion in Germany," said Diana Werner, a 50-year-old care worker.
She will be voting for the AfD because she wants to see "a major change in this country", especially through "remigration".
AfD members were accused earlier this year of discussing the concept of remigration -- the expulsion of immigrants and "non-assimilated citizens" -- at a meeting with extremists.
The AfD officially rejects the concept.
But in Sonneberg, Hoecke promised the crowd "a major programme to deport illegal immigrants" if he is elected.
"I think there are too many people who come here and commit too many crimes," said Werner.
In a subtle nod to the AfD's stance on the issue, party members at the rally were handing out blue inflatable planes for children to play with.
Hoecke's promise of a 10,000-euro ($11,000) bonus for every baby born in Thuringia and his criticism of environmentalists also drew enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
An AfD victory in Thuringia would make Hoecke and his radical ideas even more "inescapable" within the party, according to Julia Reuschenbach, a political scientist at the Free University of Berlin.
- Far-right 'hotspot' -
Around the corner from the rally in Sonneberg, around 100 protesters were kept apart from the AfD supporters by police.
"What would happen to our healthcare system without all those (foreigners) who provide invaluable help?" said Claudia Mueller, 74, who suffers from polio.
Sonneberg has become a "hotspot" for far-right violence since the AfD took control of the town in 2023, according to Ezra, a local counselling service for attack victims.
"Verbal violence has increased here, with people daring to say more things about immigration or the government," said Georg Litty, a 50-year-old social worker.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) look set for an electoral disaster in Thuringia where they are currently polling at around six percent.
At a recent rally for the SPD, Scholz said Hoecke "talks like a Nazi".
"Let them govern, and then we can get angry if they cheat us like the old parties," said Markus, a 58-year-old lorry driver.
The AfD is unlikely to come to power in Thuringia, even if it wins the election, as other parties have ruled out teaming up with it to form a majority.
But it would not be the first time the state has blazed a far-right trail: the Nazi party first came to power in Thuringia, in a coalition with the conservatives in 1930.
L.Harper--AMWN