Switzerland: Right-Wing Austrian Politician Banned From Event

Facts

• Martin Sellner, leader of the right-wing Austrian Identitarian Movement, was stopped from speaking at an event organized by the Swiss group "Junge Tat,” or Young Deed, in Aargau, Switzerland Saturday. The Identitarian Movement was declared an extremist group by Germany in 2019.¹
• Sellner, who was expected to speak about "remigration," or the deportation of non-Europeans back to their home countries, was ultimately removed from the entire state of Aargau. Police cited potential clashes with protesters at the event for their decision-making.²
• According to the police, the owner of the venue in the town of Tegerfelden, located northwest of Zurich near the German border, "canceled the rental contract" after "becom[ing] aware of the nature of the event."³
• Sellner posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the police "stormed a speech, turned off the electricity, handcuffed me and performed a push back," adding that he's "not allowed to enter Aargau for 2 months."²
• Sellner, who states his intent to also speak about "the ethnic vote" alongside migration, posted a video of the incident on X. This follows protests in Germany in response to Sellner's visit to Potsdam to speak on the same subject.⁴

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²DW, ³Barron's, ⁴VOA.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Financial Times. Sellner has been banned from both the US and UK for a reason. After being aligned with Nazi material in his late teens, the far-right politician has since 'limited' his discrimination to migrants trying to enter Europe and those who, according to him, "refuse to integrate." Sellner has used his voice to villainize African migrants, and now that he's gained popularity his movement is persuading the public to support closing borders and deporting both undocumented immigrants and legal citizens. He's a threat to the West and its values.
• Right narrative, as provided by European Conservative. If anyone is being vilified here it's those who want to regain control of their national borders and policies. Not only has the media misrepresented Sellner's ideas, but it's even claimed that his alleged mass deportation plan is supported by mainstream parties such as Germany's AfD. Liberal regimes are trying to use Sellner as a trojan horse to ban any political pundit, politician, or party who goes against their orthodoxy. As more voters shift their support to nationalist candidates, we can expect the powers that be to suppress and even ban more opposition movements.

Predictions