While relations between the French Rassemblement National (RN) and the German Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) had become strained after a cabal in the German press against the AfD about remigration, the leaders of the two political groupings have stepped up contacts to overcome misunderstandings and try to strengthen ties.
An investigation published by the German ‘investigative journalism network’ Correctiv claimed in January that the AfD had spoken out at a meeting in favour of the ‘remigration’ of German nationals who had not assimilated. On the strength of these press rumours, which were denied by the AfD, the Rassemblement National, the AfD’s ally in the European Parliament’s right-wing Identity & Democracy (ID) group, announced that it wanted to distance itself from its German counterpart, and vigorously condemned any form of ‘remigration.’
Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge and the two formations of the European Right are trying to initiate a difficult diplomatic rapprochement.
On Tuesday, February 20th, a discreet lunch was organised in Paris between Alice Weidel, co-president of the German party, Jordan Bardella, president of the RN and head of the RN list for the European elections, and Marine Le Pen, leader of the RN deputies in France.
Initially, the Rassemblement National did not wish to communicate on this highly strategic lunch, intended to clear the air on relations between the two parties since the Correctiv article. There are two opposing camps within the Rassemblement National. Those in favour of distancing themselves from the AfD argue that the RN’s German associations clearly work against it at the national level because it risks bringing back the party’s bad reputation from the past. The RN MEPs, for their part, want to retain the strong alliance with AfD, which is essential if they are to give maximum power to their European parliamentary group, the ID Group. The MEPs have therefore used their influence to help rekindle relations.
On the German side, there was no such division. Alice Weidel, for her part, was keen to communicate on this crucial lunch, and shared her experience warmly and enthusiastically on her X account, forcing the French to peek out.
“We discussed many political issues and found that we are looking for the same solutions to today’s major problems. I would like to thank you very much for your warm welcome to Paris,” Alice Weidel posted in the hours following the lunch.
Following this post, the Rassemblement National did not deny it, but did not wish to comment immediately on the exchanges between the representatives of the two parties. Rumours were then spread by news outlet France Info that the RN had requested written confirmation from the AfD that the German party would definitively renounce any idea of “remigration” in its political programme—again, without any official confirmation from the RN at first.
It took a few days for the French party’s communication about the lunch and its consequences to be finalised. On Sunday, February 25th, party chairman Jordan Bardella explained his version of events on the set of BFM TV. He presented the lunch with Alice Weidel as an initiative of himself and Marine Le Pen, designed to “express their disagreement” on the issue of remigration. Bardella went on to explain that the AfD co-president “provided a number of clarifications that she has undertaken to provide us with in writing.”
The whole controversy revolves around the definition that should be given to the term ‘remigration,’ which arouses all possible passions and outbursts, on both the Right and the Left.
Through the voice of Marion Maréchal, the Reconquête party, the RN’s rival, recalled that it is on the same line as the AfD on the issue of ‘remigration,’ namely the expulsion of foreign criminals, long-term unemployed foreigners, and foreign Islamists proposed by AfD MEP Maximilian Krah. “This was our presidential project with Éric Zemmour,” she declared on France Inter in early February.
In reality, the RN’s point of view is not fundamentally different. What the RN is criticising because of the controversy with the AfD is not the deportation of foreigners who are in France illegally, or who have been convicted in France, but the idea that nationality—French or German—can be withdrawn from individuals a posteriori in order to deport them, solely on the basis of their origin or religion. It is this precise point, “this measure which consists of withdrawing nationality from people who have acquired it on the basis of such and such an origin or on the basis of such and such a religious affiliation” that the Rassemblement National considers to be non-negotiable and on which Bardella asked for a written commitment from the AfD. Bardella welcomed Alice Weidel’s statement that, contrary to what Correctiv’s article claimed, she rejected any idea of “withdrawing nationality from people who have acquired it on the grounds that they are of foreign origin.”
The interview on BFM ended with these words from the President of the RN about the AfD: “they are our allies, at least until proven otherwise.”
