Germany bans neo-Nazi group Nordadler

Deutsche Welle , Germany/June 23, 2020

This is the third ban of a right-wing extremist group in Germany so far this year. Police raided suspected group members across four federal states.

An allegedly neo-Nazi group called Nordadler (roughly: the Northern Eagles) was banned by Germany's Interior Ministry on Tuesday.

Police made four raids targeting the group in the German federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Brandenburg and Lower Saxony.

Interior Ministry spokesman Steve Alter announced the ban on Twitter, saying the group operated mainly online.

"Right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism have no place on the internet either," he said.

The ministry said the group pursued a national socialist ideology and also operated under four other names, which all make National Socialist-style references to the German Volk, or people/ethnicity: Völkische Revolution (People's Revolution), Völkische Jugend (People's Youth), Völkische Gemeinschaft (People's Community) and Völkische Renaissance (People's Renaissance).

Rural society planned

The ministry said members of the right-wing extremist group professed their allegiance to Adolf Hitler and other important representatives of the Nazi regime and used the symbols and language of the Nazi regime.

It said Nordadler was planning a national socialist settlement project with like-minded people in rural areas.

In 2018, after separate raids against the group, the alleged founder of Nordadler told public broadcaster NDR that he saw himself as a Nazi and that they were considering attacks against politicians.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office announced at the time that the group had tried to obtain weapons, ammunition, and explosive material.

According to the ministry, this is the 20th ban of a right-wing extremist association by a federal interior and the third one this year.

In January, Combat 18 was banned, followed in March by the United German Peoples and Tribes group.