Germany refuses to ban visiting pro-Nazi supporters
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer / Image: DW
The German Interior Ministry says it cannot comment - for privacy reasons - if Albanian nationalists in Macedonia who venerate WWII Albanian Nazi collaborators are banned from entering Germany.
Mr Steve Alter, a spokesman for the German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, issued the following statement:
"thank you for your questions. As one of the press spokespersons of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community I can inform you, that we generally do not comment any particular cases with respect to the personal data protection regulations."
Section 130 of the German Criminal Code (link) bans the glorification of National Socialism (Nazism). In 1993 controversial British author and Holocaust denier David Irving was banned from entering Germany. In 2012 that ban was overturned. Irving did, however, do jail time in Austria for Holocaust denial.
Questions to the German Interior Minister:
Question 1: Will the Federal Republic of Germany's Interior Ministry be banning politicians from the ultra Albanian nationalist party DUI (BDI-) such as leader Ali Ahmeti, Bujar Osmani who is Macedonia's Deputy Prime Minister, Nevzat Bejta, Teuta Arifi, Artan Grubi and Talat Xhaferi who is Macedonia Parliament Speaker - from entering German sovereign territory in potential breach of German Criminal Code Section 130 which forbids the glorification and justifying of National Socialism [Nazism]?
-The DUI party has a neo-Nazi ideology and venerates World War II Albanian Nazi collaborators such as Xhem Hasa Gostivari. Nevzat Bejta has gone to the extreme of building a statue to Xhem Hasa Gostivari in Macedonia as well as a second statue to another Albanian Nazi collaborator Aqif Krosi Recani.
- The Federal Republic of Germany has in the past prosecuted individuals for breaching Section 130 as well as barring them entry into Germany for issues ranging from Holocaust denial to the glorification of Nazism.
Question 2: Will the German Interior Ministry be conducting some kind of investigation into the above mentioned Albanian nationalist politicians - Ali Ahmeti, Bujar Osmani, Nevzat Bejta, Teuta Arifi and Artan Grubi - as to their suitability or legality in entering German sovereign territory over Section 130 of the German Criminal Code.
The subject of Albanian Nazi collaborator statues in Macedonia and the extremist ideology which underpins them remains a touchy for the West, especially Germany, the US, and the EU as a whole as they have all endorsed the very people who have built these statues. Last year the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a media conference in Skopje, Macedonia would not take a question on Albanian Nazi statues.
By Sasha Uzunov
Taken from: http://teamuzunovmedia.blogspot.com/2019/08/germany-no-comment-on-anti-nazi-ban-on.html
