Marcus Pretzell | |
---|---|
Member of the European Parliament | |
In office 1 May 2015 –1 July 2019 | |
Constituency | Germany |
Personal details | |
Born | Rinteln,West Germany (now Germany) | 16 July 1973
Political party | AfD (2013–2017) Blue Party (2017–2019) |
Spouse | Frauke Petry (m. 2016) |
Children | 6 |
Alma mater | University of Heidelberg |
Marcus Pretzell (born 16 July 1973) is a German politician and was Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany from 2016 to 2019. He was a member of the Alternative for Germany,part of the Europe of Nations and Freedom [1] and was a member of The Blue Party.
In April 2016,Pretzell attracted controversy and criticism after stating that he supported "The defence of the German border with armed force" against asylum seekers. As a result,on 12 April 2016,he was expelled from the European Conservatives and Reformists group. [2] Following this,he joined Marine Le Pen's Europe of Nations and Freedom faction. [3]
During a speech at an AfD party convention in Essen,4–5 July 2015,he said,"We had the discussion about whether we were the Euro party or the Pegida party. We are both." [4]
Pretzell is involved in the AfD donation scandal. Beside of him the AfD Federal –and European –politicians Alice Weidel,Jörg Meuthen and Guido Reil profited from unnamed donors. Public prosecutor's office Konstanz and the office of Bundestag determine since 2018. The acceptance of donations from non-EU countries is prohibited for German parties;with the exception of donations from German or European companies.
Pretzell was listed as a recipient of thousands of euros as compensation for his presence at the 2016 Yalta Economic Forum in Russia's occupied Crimea in OCCRP investigation of Russia's International Agency for Current Policy. [5]
Euroscepticism,also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism,is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies,and seek reform,to those who oppose EU membership and see the EU as unreformable. The opposite of Euroscepticism is known as pro-Europeanism,or European Unionism.
Non-Inscrits are Members of the European Parliament (MEP) who do not belong to one of the recognised political groups.
Andros Kyprianou is a Cypriot politician who has served as the general secretary of the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) from 2009 to 2021.
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic,anti-federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party European political party (formerly known as the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe or Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists,but also includes MEPs from four other European parties and thirteen MEPs without European party affiliation.
The European Conservatives and Reformists Party,formerly known as Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) (2009–2016) and Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) (2016–2019),is a conservative,soft Eurosceptic European political party with a main focus on reforming the European Union (EU) on the basis of Eurorealism,as opposed to total rejection of the EU (anti-EU-ism). It currently has twenty-four member parties and three further independent members from twenty-one countries,in addition to seven regional partners worldwide.
Alternative for Germany is a right-wing populist political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union,as well as immigration to Germany. The AfD's ideology is positioned on the radical right,a subset of the far-right,within the family of European political parties.
Bernd Lucke is a German economist and politician. Lucke was elected a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in 2014. He failed to win reelection in 2019.
Frauke Petry is a German politician who chaired the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from July 2015 to September 2017. A chemist by training and with a professional background as a businesswoman,some political scientists described Petry as a representative of the national conservative wing of that party.
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy was a Eurosceptic and populist political group in the European Parliament. The EFDD group was a continuation for the Eighth European Parliament of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group that existed during the Seventh European Parliament,with significant changes to group membership.
Beatrix Amelie Ehrengard Eilika von Storch is a German politician and lawyer,who has been the Deputy Leader of the Alternative for Germany since July 2015 and a Member of the Bundestag since September 2017. She previously was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany. From April 2016 to 2017 she was also a member of the right-wing populist Anti-EU group Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy. She is part of the right-wing conservative wing of the parliamentary group of the AfD. She belongs ancestrally to the royal House of Oldenburg which reigned over the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg until 1918.
The Identity and Democracy Party,abbreviated to ID Party and formerly known as the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom (MENF),is an alliance of nationalist,right-wing populist and eurosceptic European political parties founded in 2014. The party has been described as both right-wing and far-right. Its political group in the European Parliament was Europe of Nations and Freedom,which was succeeded in 2019 by Identity and Democracy.
Europe of Nations and Freedom was a political group in the European Parliament launched on 15 June 2015. The group was the smallest within the European Parliament during the eighth European Parliament term with 37 members. The largest faction in the group was the French National Rally with 17 MEPs. Twenty-eight members were part of the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom (MENF),with the remaining nine MEPs being their ideological allies. The ENF was the parliamentary group of the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom although some MEPs were without any European affiliations.
The Liberal Conservative Reformers is a centre-right to right-wing political party in Germany which was known from July 2015 to November 2016 as ALFA.
Jörg Hubert Meuthen is a German economist serving as a member of the European Parliament for the Centre Party. He was the leading candidate of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) for the 2019 European Parliament election. He served as federal spokesman for,and thus leader of,the AfD from July 2015 until his resignation in January 2022,caused by conflict with right-wing extremist elements in the party. He was frontrunner for the AfD at the 2016 Baden-Württemberg state election and was a Member of Parliament and parliamentary leader from March 2016.
Johannes Hübner was an Austrian politician and Member of the National Council (Parliament) for Vienna South-West for the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 2008- Oct 2017. He previously sat in parliament for Vienna District 4 (1986-1997). He was until October 2017 the party's spokesman on Foreign Affairs.
Axel Kassegger is an Austrian politician who has been a Member of the National Council for the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) since 2013.
Identity and Democracy is a right-wing to far-right political group of the European Parliament,launched on 13 June 2019 for the Ninth European Parliament term. It is composed of nationalist,right-wing populist and eurosceptic national parties from ten European nations. It is the successor to the Europe of Nations and Freedom group formed during the eighth term.
Parts of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) support Russia,its foreign policy,and its allies. Many AfD members and activists were listed as keeping close ties with Russian politicians and receiving financial benefits in OCCRP investigation of Russia's International Agency for Current Policy,a.
Lars Patrick Berg is a German politician who is serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He was elected with the Alternative for Germany party,he left the party and the Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament to join the European Conservatives and Reformists in June 2021 and the Liberal Conservative Reformers party in Germany in July 2021. In January 2023 he left the Liberal Conservative Reformers party and join the Alliance Germany party. He was a member of the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg from 2016-2019.
Markus-Cornel Frohnmaier is a Romanian-born German politician from Alternative for Germany. He was elected Member of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg in the 2017 German federal election.