Kay Gottschalk, the deputy federal chair of the AfD, says he will attend the so‑called Remigrations Summit in Porto in May, even though the party’s leadership has advised members not to hold “party events” with Martin Sellner. When asked about the apparent contradiction, Gottschalk told T‑Online on Tuesday that the summit is not a party event. “If the AfD’s front end organizes a summit, that is a compulsory event for me” he said, adding that Sellner will be announced as a speaker and co‑organizer of the gathering.
Gottschalk also explained that he does not understand “the drama”. “I’ll listen to what they have to say. If they have good ideas, I would invite them to more talks. Why not?” he said. He added that if Sellner were to walk past him at the event, he would speak with him, and that he could also talk to people like Heidi Reichinnek or even Putin, warning that the party should not draw too many red lines.
On Monday the AfD board communicated a recommendation to its members to avoid party events with Sellner. Gottschalk sees no conflict between that directive and his participation in the summit. “The board’s resolution concerns party events only” he said. “The Remigrations Summit is not a party event”.
Martin Sellner is identified by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a central figure of the Identitarian Movement, which the agency already classifies as a firmly right‑wing extremist organization. In 2025 the Federal Administrative Court ruled that Sellner’s remigration concept is incompatible with the inviolability of human dignity as guaranteed by Article 1 of the German Basic Law.
