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NOW
THREATENED BY REGIME
German
lawmakers
Walk-out
over Auschwitz angers German minister Berlin—The German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, has threatened "consequences" for legislators from a far-right party who walked out of a state parliament to protest against a tribute honoring victims of Nazi aggression. All 12 members of the National Democratic Party stood up and headed for the door of Saxony's parliament on Friday after the parliament's president, Erich Iltgen, called for a moment's silence to mark this week's 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. A National Democratic Party leader later compared the suffering of victims of the Holocaust to that of Germans during World War II Allied bombing. "The unspeakable playing-down of the Holocaust ... is a disgrace for our country and an attack on our democracy. This must have consequences," Mr. Fischer said on Sunday. "Hatemongers, neo-Nazis, and far-right radicals may not get the parliamentary podium for the spreading of their treacherous views ... All possibilities must be utilized to stop a repeat of such an act of incitement." He did not say what action the Government may take against the National Democratic Party members. The party won 9.2 percent representation in Saxony's state parliament in elections last year, capitalizing on discontent with the drive by the Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, to cut social programs. Their election drew concern from mainstream politicians. A government attempt to outlaw the party, accused of fomenting hate crimes against foreigners and Jews, failed in 2003 when Germany's Supreme Court threw out the case after it emerged that the Government's evidence was partly based on paid informants. According to Der Spiegel magazine, the ex-communist Party of Democratic Socialism will seek to have the party banned. The Premier of Saxony, Georg Milbradt, a conservative, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper he would not rule out such a course. |
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