Alternative for Germany party congress delegates (AzG) rejected a proposal to restrict travel to Russia, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
This happened at the two-day congress of the German far-right formation in the western city of Essen, which ended today. Yesterday, the delegates re-elected Tino Krupala and Alice Weidel as Co-Presidents of the AFG. Otherwise, the congress passes under the sign of violent protests against the extreme right.
Today, congress delegates rejected a proposal to introduce stricter rules on foreign travel and interviews with foreign media for AZ politicians. The project was introduced by several deputies after the trip to Russia of politicians from the party, who expressed their admiration for President Vladimir Putin, was presented in a negative light by the media, DPA notes.
One of the initiators of the proposal - Florian Kohler, a member of the Bavarian state parliament - criticized "visits to dictators... and autocrats". It is necessary for our party to focus more on our homeland, so that we are not perceived by voters as agents of other countries, he argued.
Another reason for the proposal was the scandal with the leader of the AzG list in the European Parliament (EP) elections earlier this month, Maximilian Kra. The German party was expelled from the far-right group in the EP "Identity and Democracy" after it made controversial comments in defense of the SS in an interview with the Italian newspaper Cra.
Meanwhile, it became clear that a congress delegate bit a protester during a fight yesterday in front of the building in the city of Essen, where the party forum was held, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
In an interview with DPA today, 67-year-old Stefan Hardy claims that he bit the protester in self-defense in the context of an "escalating situation" with demonstrators opposed to the "Alternative for Germany" trying to block the access of delegates to the congress hall in Essen.
A city police spokeswoman said police learned of the biting incident from the media, but could not immediately say whether the person bitten by Hardy had filed a complaint.
The police investigation into the incident is ongoing, the spokeswoman said.
Hardy told DPA that he was driving to the convention site when he ran into a roadblock set up by protesters. When he got out of his car to ask a police officer to clear the way, he was attacked. "Then they kicked me in the right calf, I fell to the ground and two or three people threw themselves on top of me. Then I received a kick from the right, I managed to avoid it a bit, then I squeezed the leg that was kicking me and bit it so that it wouldn't kick me again," says the politician. At that point, according to Hardy, police intervened and he was able to stand up and continue on his way.
Newspaper "Bild" released video of the incident, which shows Hardy walking toward the police cordon. Several demonstrators stand in his way, a commotion ensues, and Hardy falls to the ground. But parts of the video don't match Hardy's account. It only shows a demonstrator pinning him down and Hrdy biting his calf. Also not visible on the video is the kick Hardy described as having been received by a protester, although the view of the fight is partially obscured.
Hardy, a retired police officer who joined the "Alternative for Germany" in 2016, said he intended to press charges. He has no visible injuries from the incident.
The far-right party conference was accompanied by mass protests yesterday involving tens of thousands of people. At times there were fierce clashes.
According to the police, during the clashes between the police and activists, 28 police officers were injured, one of them was seriously injured.
Large groups of people, sometimes numbering several hundred people, have repeatedly tried to prevent delegates from participating in the congress or to break through police barriers, the police said yesterday evening.