BreakingToday’s News9 September 2026 at 13:31
Germany's Merz accuses AfD of ethnic cleansing rhetoric after far-right election win
Crossbencher Newsdesk
Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany's centre-right CDU, has accused the far-right Alternative for Germany of calling for "ethnic cleansing" following the party's strong performance in a state election. The Independent and BBC both report a stormy parliamentary debate after the AfD's win.
Trump praised the result, telling reporters the AfD is "on the rise" in Germany. The BBC describes Merz's attack as part of a "stormy debate" in the Bundestag. The AfD has made gains in eastern German states, where it now holds enough seats to complicate coalition-building for the mainstream parties.
The language is deliberate. Ethnic cleansing is a term of art in international law, defined at Nuremberg and codified in the Rome Statute as a crime against humanity when carried out systematically. Merz is not accusing the AfD of committing the act - he is accusing them of advocating it. That places the charge in the realm of incitement, which German law treats seriously: paragraph 130 of the criminal code criminalises incitement to hatred against segments of the population. Whether Merz's words constitute a formal complaint or remain political rhetoric will become clear if prosecutors act.
Watch whether any German state prosecutor opens an investigation into AfD statements. German coalition arithmetic after the next federal election will also show whether the mainstream parties hold their cordon sanitaire or whether the AfD's vote share forces a reckoning.
Sources and receipts (10) +
- as captured - Daily Mail: Tories say white working-class boys 'don't need another Labour quango lecturing them' as Government sets up new Whitehall unit to push 'socioeconomic duty' on public bodies source · 6add3f5b… →
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- as captured - GB News: Labour to put social class on par with race and gender in effort to target white inequality source · 5c2fbf54… →
- as captured - The Sun: Ex-England manager Gareth Southgate blasts ‘lazy’ WFH culture & Labour tax hikes as danger to young workers source · 0c3c9a22… →
- as captured - The Sun: Sick note culture for ADHD is insane & trapping youngsters on welfare for life, warns government jobs tsar source · 32a27f0a… →
- as captured - Daily Mail: The Voice UK plagued by toxic in-fighting, 'fix' accusations and a never-ending parade of coaches - as Tom Jones' sacking is another bum note for struggling show source · a6aa3408… →
- Ethnic cleansing was defined at Nuremberg and codified in the Rome Statute as a crime against humanity.: crime against humanity source · 8e90ea7e… →
- German criminal code paragraph 130 criminalises incitement to hatred against segments of the population.: incitement to hatred source · a909a24a… →
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