Friday, Jul. 29, 2011

Germany

On the Ballot

Party: Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (National Democratic Party of Germany)
Leader: Udo Voigt
Key issues: Capitalism, globalization, Islam
Seats in parliament: 0/622

While Germany's oldest nationalist party has no seats in the Bundestag, the German parliament, it does hold seats in two of the country's sixteen states. In 2003, the German government attempted to ban the NPD, but the country's Supreme Court blocked the initiative after it was revealed that the party members whose actions formed the bulk of the government's case were in fact agents of the German intelligence services.

On the Fringe

Autonome Nationalisten
The young neo-Nazi group, founded in 2003, emphasizes violence and its members typically wear all-black. The group gain notoriety in May 2008, when an Autonome Nationalisten mob attacked a group of far-left protestors and police, lighting cars on fire and severely injuring dozens. Germany's Interior Minister at the time said the event heralded a "new quality" of far-right violence in the