German politicians responded with outrage on Friday to comments by a leading member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in which he linked a planned deportation drive to the availability of military equipment.
Ulrich Siegmund, who is vying to become Germany's first far-right state leader since World War II after his party overwhelmingly won Sunday's election in the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt, was asked by a journalist on Thursday about plans by Israeli arms company Elbit Systems to set up a production facility in the state.
"We do not demonize the production of military equipment across the board, because we will, of course, need the necessary resources for [our] planned campaign of remigration and deportation," Siegmund responded.
The AfD has vowed to carry out a major "remigration" drive if it manages to take control of the state government in Saxony-Anhalt. The term is widely used in far-right circles to describe large-scale deportations.
Such plans would likely face significant legal hurdles. Germany's 16 federal states have widespread powers in areas including education and security, but migration policy is decided by the national government.
It is also unclear whether the AfD will be able to govern in Saxony-Anhalt, despite garnering nearly 44% in the vote, as all other mainstream parties have ruled out cooperating with the far right.
The party might be able to rely on tacit support from the populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which has indicated it might support an AfD-led minority government.
But even BSW officials sharply condemned Siegmund's remarks on Friday.
"Deportations are not a military task," Claudia Wittig, deputy leader of the BSW parliamentary group in the state parliament, told dpa, adding that military equipment could not be used for this purpose.
"Ulrich Siegmund clearly hasn't thought this through," Wittig said, adding that his remarks came across as a provocation and may indicate an insufficient understanding of the legal situation.