Marcus Pretzell

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Marcus Pretzell at the WDR election arena for the NRW state election (2017)
Marcus Pretzell (r.) With Bernd Lucke (2015)

Marcus Horst Hubertus Pretzell [ ˈpʀɛt͡sl̩ ] (born July 16, 1973 in Rinteln ) is a German politician (non-party, previously The Blue Party , before that AfD ). After the 2014 European elections , he was a member of the European Parliament until 2019 ; after being expelled from the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, he joined the Europe of Nations and Freedom Group (ENF). From 2014 to 2017 he was state chairman and in 2017 parliamentary group chairman of the AfD North Rhine-Westphalia .

As a top candidate, he and the AfD were elected to the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia for the first time in May 2017 . On September 26, 2017, however, a few days after his wife Frauke Petry took a similar step following the 2017 federal election , he announced that he would leave the AfD and the parliamentary group, which happened on October 2. Pretzell has been one of the representatives of right-wing populist movements within the AfD since 2015 .

Life

Marcus Pretzell grew up in Wiesbaden and studied law at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg from 1994 to 2000 . Since 1994 he has been a member of the Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg . After the legal state exams (2000, 2002) and the legal clerkship in Paderborn , he worked as a lawyer specializing in real estate law in Bielefeld from 2002 to 2009 . From 2009 to 2013 he worked as a real estate developer . The Hamm Bar Association deleted Pretzell from its list in 2015, according to a report by the Rheinische Post, Pretzell voluntarily returned his license in order to anticipate its withdrawal due to financial collapse (insolvency). According to a report by the Legal Tribune Online, however , the "voluntary return" only took place after the license had been withdrawn, the Rheinische Post had declared access to the documents of the Bar Association.

Pretzell has four children from his first marriage. He has been married to Frauke Petry since December 2016 , with whom he has two other children. According to various media reports, there were uncertainties about the couple's actual residence, which could possibly have affected Pretzell's right to vote in North Rhine-Westphalia , but the world withdrew a corresponding report on the grounds that when their report was being drawn up they were subject to a regulation within the “General Administrative Regulation of the federal government on the Federal Registration Act ", which allows different domiciles for spouses.

Political career

Pretzell was a member of the FDP from 2004 to 2009 . In 2013 he joined the AfD, in the 2013 federal election he was a direct candidate in the constituency of Bielefeld - Gütersloh II . Pretzell was elected as the first spokesman for the Bielefeld district association and in March 2014 as an assessor on the federal board. In June 2014, the NRW state party congress elected him to succeed Jörg Burger as state chairman, and since August 2015 he has shared this office with Martin Renner. In October 2014 he resigned from the federal executive board. Previously, in March 2014, he received a warning from the federal executive board because he had performed at a Junge Alternative event with UKIP chairman Nigel Farage without first obtaining approval from the rest of the executive board to contact Nigel Farage. According to a resolution of November 2013, however, he would have been obliged to do so as a board member (which he had become in the same month).

Pretzell was elected a member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2014 European elections . There he was a member of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, the Committee of Inquiry into Emissions Measurements in the Automotive Industry and the Delegation for Relations with the Arabian Peninsula. In April 2015 "Pretzell [...] was excluded from future participation in meetings of his party's EU parliamentary group". Three months later, the Alliance for Progress and Awakening (ALFA) was founded and five of the seven members of the European Parliament elected for the AfD - but not Pretzell and Beatrix von Storch  - switched to it. On April 12, 2016, Pretzell was excluded from the moderately EU-skeptical and national-conservative group of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), to which individual right-wing populist representatives belong. At the AfD federal party conference on April 30, 2016, Pretzell announced that he would join the Europe of Nations and Freedom  (ENF) parliamentary group around the members of the French National Front , which is classified as right-wing extremist. He also joined the European party Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom , of which he has been a board member since then.

In the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2017 , he ran as the top candidate of his party and won a state parliament mandate. He was then elected chairman of the AfD's state parliamentary group, which was represented for the first time. In the state parliament, he is a spokesperson and full member of the main committee, as well as the council of elders, the committee for digitization and innovation and the supervisory body according to § 23 of the Constitutional Protection Act of North Rhine-Westphalia. He is a deputy member of the election review committee, the committee for economy, energy and regional planning, the legal committee, the science committee and the committee for Europe and international affairs.

Political positions

At the extraordinary party conference of the AfD in Essen, Pretzell stated that his party was also a " PEGIDA party".

Pretzell considers the use of firearms as a last resort in the event of a violent border crossing by refugees to be justified, but does not believe that this is necessary, since other means such as police presence, water cannons or tear gas would be sufficient.

On April 15, 2016, Pretzell visited the Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014 , as a member of the European Parliament and took part in the “International Yalta Economic Forum”. He also met the "President of Crimea" Sergei Aksjonow , who is on the EU sanctions list, and gave a speech in his presence. This trip led to an official protest note from Ukraine against Germany. On January 21, 2017, it became known that the Russian operator had paid for Pretzell's trip and a five-star hotel and that Pretzell only provided facts about the trip under pressure from the EU Parliament's ethics committee and six months later than required.

Pretzell supports the initiative "Friends of Judea and Samaria in the European Parliament", which campaigns for the interests of the Israeli settler movement in the Palestinian areas of the West Bank , which Israel has occupied since 1967 . In January 2017 in Koblenz, Pretzell caused controversial discussions at a conference of the most prominent European right-wing populists, according to which the EU "ultimately finances terrorist organizations against Israel via detours", but the country is "our future" and a role model when it comes to the Dealing with political Islam go. The political scientist Stephan Grigat states that this would “ replace Zionism and Israeli history with the National Socialist past” and separate them. Israel is addressed "merely as an ally in the defensive struggle against Muslims and Islam", while at the same time "drawing a distorted picture of the position of the Muslim minority and the way Islam is dealt with in Israeli society".

In the plenary session of the European Parliament, Pretzell voted as one of 38 MPs on October 4, 2016 against the ratification of the agreement of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris 2015 (voting ratio 610/38/31).

Shortly after the attack on the Berlin Christmas market at the Memorial Church on December 19, 2016, Pretzell tweeted: “When will the German constitutional state strike back? When does this damn hypocrisy end? It 's Merkel's dead! ”For this post he was later criticized by the SPD politicians Ralf Stegner and Aydan Özoğuz and the political scientist Hajo Funke .

Before the European elections, the social scientist Alexander Häusler called Pretzell an “advocate of those members who had sympathy for an alliance with UKIP ”. A joint appearance with Nigel Farage at an internally controversial event organized by Junge Alternative für Deutschland in 2014 earned him a reprimand from the then federal executive committee.

The social scientist David Bebnowski from the Göttingen Institute for Democracy Research described Pretzell in 2015 as a “representative of right-wing populist movements at the party base”, who served “ national-conservative concerns” and united “ liberal positions with identitary national - conservative ideas”.

Warning due to seizure of a party account

As part of a seizure of an AfD party account caused by him, Pretzell was warned by the federal executive committee. The Bielefeld-Innenstadt tax office had imposed a fine on Pretzell, which Pretzell did not pay in time. Since the state office of the AfD did not inform the tax office that Pretzell received no party salary, a party account was seized. An internal party report in 2015 came to the conclusion that Pretzell had failed to inform the party about his private tax liabilities. According to the expert, "private chaotic conditions" are the background to the misconduct. Pretzell is overwhelmed by being both a member of the European Parliament and the NRW state party leader.

Allegation of illegal party funding

After it became known that the Swiss advertising agency GOAL AG, whose managing director is Alexander Segert , was one of the financial supporters of the association "Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law and Civil Liberties" , which has already financially supported millions of euros in election campaigns in several national factions of the AfD, In June 2017, a direct payment to Pretzell in the amount of € 28,037 was announced to support an event by the AfD top politician during the NRW state elections in Düsseldorf. Heinz-Christian Strache (FPÖ) also gave a speech at the event . According to German law, the payment could constitute a donation prohibited by the Political Parties Act.

When asked, Pretzell stated that the Düsseldorf meeting was not a party event. The connections between Pretzell and the advertising agency Goal AG also call into question the AfD's statement that it does not know who is behind the multi-million dollar supporter association. Similar direct connections between AfD and Goal AG also existed during the BW state election campaign.

literature

  • David Bebnowski: Marcus Pretzell: Between liberal and right-wing populist base . In: David Bebnowski: The alternative for Germany. Rise and social representation of a right-wing populist party . Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-08285-7 , pp. 27-29.

Web links

Commons : Marcus Pretzell  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jakob Blume: Criticism from the Ukrainian ambassador: AfD politician Pretzell provoked with a trip to Crimea . Handelsblatt , April 15, 2015, accessed on September 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ Julia Rathcke, Kirsten Bialdiga: Petry and Pretzell turn their backs on the AfD. In: RP Online . September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017 .
  3. ↑ http://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/landespolitik/pretzell-aus-afd-ausgtret-100.html
  4. ↑ David Bebnowski: The Alternative for Germany: Rise and Social Representation of a Right Populist Party, Springer-Verlag, 2015, p. 271 [1]
  5. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1996, 140 , 1776.
  6. ↑ Chamber report Hamm 4/2015
  7. ↑ Julia Rathcke: Why Marcus Pretzell is no longer a lawyer, in: Rheinische Post v.11. May 2017
  8. ↑ Pia Lorenz: Why AfD boss Pretzell no longer has a license to practice law, in Legal Tribune online on May 15, 2017
  9. ↑ Justus Bender: AfD country chief should take an oath of disclosure. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , March 20, 2015.
  10. ↑ Justus Bender: Frauke Petry marries a second time. In: FAZ.net . December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Marcus Bensmann, Stefan Laurin, Wigbert Löer: AfD top candidate - where does Marcus Pretzell live? Der Stern, November 23, 2016, accessed January 25, 2017 . Andreas Halbach, Thomas Münten, Heiko Rahms: In conflict with state election laws. (No longer available online.) ZDF broadcast Frontal21 , January 31, 2017, archived from the original on February 1, 2017 ; accessed on February 1, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
     @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zdf.de
  12. ^ Report at welt.de from February 1, 2017 with a correcting note
  13. ↑ Daniel Chur: AfD hopes for a new start. In: WDR . August 29, 2015, archived from the original on January 8, 2016 ; accessed on December 13, 2015 .
  14. ↑ State party conference: AfD elects Renner and Pretzell as dual leadership. In: WDR . August 30, 2015, accessed September 1, 2015 .
  15. ↑ Günther Lachmann: AfD boss Lucke defeated his worst adversary. In: The world . October 15, 2014, accessed March 2, 2015 .
  16. ^ David Bebnowski: Marcus Pretzell: Between liberal and right-wing populist basis . In: The alternative for Germany. Rise and social representation of a right-wing populist party . Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-08285-7 , pp. 27–29, here: p. 28.
    Annika Leister: Anger in the AfD . In: fr-online.de , March 29, 2014, accessed on April 18, 2016.
    Annika Leister: Nigel Farage in Cologne. AfD warned board member. In: ksta.de , March 28, 2014, accessed on April 18, 2016.
    For the JA event with Nigel Farage on March 27, 2014 see also:
    Caterina Lobenstein : The AfD between moderation and right-wing populism . In: Zeit Online , March 28, 2014, accessed on April 18, 2016.
    Melanie Amann, Anne Martin, Benjamin Braden: Right-wing populist Farage at the AfD: Euro opponents of all countries, unite . In: Spiegel Online , March 28, 2014, accessed on April 18, 2016.
    Martin Teigeler, Martina Züger: AfD flirts with British opponents of Europe . wdr.de , March 28, 2014, accessed on April 18, 2016.
    Patrick Schwarz: “A eurosceptic wind is blowing through Europe” . handelsblatt.com , March 28, 2014, accessed April 18, 2016.
  17. ↑ Federal result. Preliminary result of the 2014 European elections. Federal Returning Officer, 2014, archived from the original on May 27, 2014 ; Retrieved May 5, 2017 . Alphabetical list of elected parties by party: AfD. Preliminary result of the 2014 European elections. Federal Returning Officer, 2014, archived from the original on May 27, 2014 ; Retrieved May 5, 2017 .
  18. ↑ Marcus Pretzell . European Parliament website, accessed 5 May 2017.
  19. ^ Resignations from the party executive: Bloodletting in the AfD . In: faz.net , April 27, 2015, accessed May 5, 2017.
  20. ↑ Screenshot of the press release of the group of the European Conservatives and Reformers on the request to leave in the tweet to go voluntarily or expulsion: # AFD MPs should leave the ECR group in the # EU Parliament by 31.3 @tagesschau by WDR journalist Markus Preiß . March 8, 2016, accessed April 9, 2016.
    European Parliament: Group wants to get rid of AfD MPs . In: Spiegel Online , March 8, 2016, accessed on April 10, 2016.
    Dispute in the EU Parliament. AfD MPs should leave the parliamentary group. In: tagesschau.de , March 8, 2016, accessed on April 9, 2016.
    Sebastian Schöbel: Von Storch on threatened EU parliamentary group exclusion. “We have no reason to go”. In: tagesschau.de , March 9, 2016, accessed April 9, 2016.
  21. ^ AfD man Pretzell flies out of the faction in the EU Parliament . In: sueddeutsche.de , April 12, 2016, accessed on April 13, 2016.
    Malte Pieper: Europa-AfD im Abseits . In: tagesschau.de , April 12, 2016, accessed on April 13, 2016.
    Malte Pieper: MEP without a parliamentary group. Conservatives kick AfD man Pretzell out. In: tagesschau.de , April 13, 2016, accessed on April 13, 2016.
    Martin Teigeler: AfD-NRW boss flies from the European parliamentary group . In: wdr.de , April 13, 2016, accessed on April 13, 2016.
    AfD politician Marcus Pretzell. Excluded from the ECR group in the European Parliament. In: n24.de , April 12, 2016, accessed on April 13, 2016.
  22. ↑ Justus Bender: AfD party congress struggles for the future of the party. In: faz.net. April 30, 2016, Retrieved May 5, 2016 .
  23. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from September 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  24. ↑ Member of Parliament Marcus Pretzell. In: landtag.nrw.de. Retrieved May 5, 2016 .
  25. ↑ Alexander Häusler : “I don't know any wings, I don't know any currents. I only know the Brandenburg AfD ”. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Brandenburg in spring 2015 . In the S. (Ed.): The alternative for Germany. Program, development and political positioning . Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2016, ISBN 978-3-658-10638-6 , p. 241.
  26. ↑ AfD boss in North Rhine-Westphalia: stop refugees with firearms if necessary. dpa article in Der Tagesspiegel , November 1, 2015, accessed on May 5, 2017 .
  27. ↑ Gerald Praschl : AfD top politician in the occupied Crimea. In: Gerald Praschl EASTblog. April 15, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2016 .
  28. ↑ AfD youth is looking for closeness to Putin's party offspring. hrsg = dpa article in Die Zeit , April 23, 2016, accessed on May 5, 2017 .
  29. ↑ Marcus Pretzell: Declaration by a member about participation in events financed by third parties. (PDF, 5 MB) European Parliament, November 24, 2016, accessed on January 24, 2017 .
  30. ↑ Sven Becker, Melanie Amann: Russian Foundation paid trip to Crimea by AfD politician Pretzell . Spiegel Online , January 21, 2017, accessed May 5, 2017.
  31. ↑ Armin Langer: AfD: Falsche Freunde, in: Die Zeit from July 26, 2017, accessed on October 19, 2017
  32. ↑ Justus Bender: Summit of the right-wing populists: Hurray calls for Petry, Wilders, Le Pen and Trump, in: Frankfurter Allgemeine from January 21, 2017, accessed on October 19, 2017
  33. ↑ Patrick Gensing: After the ENF conference: Europe's new rights are arguing over Israel, in: Tagesschau.de of January 22, 2017, accessed on October 19, 2017
  34. ↑ Stephan Grigat: "Learn from Austria." In: ders. (Ed.): AfD & FPÖ. Anti-Semitism, ethnic nationalism and gender images. Series Interdisciplinary Research on Antisemitism Vol. 7. Facultas, Baden-Baden 2017, p. 15
  35. ↑ Minutes of the plenary session of the European Parliament on October 4th, 2016: result of roll-call votes. Here: Voting on TOP A8-0280 / 260 ,. (PDF, 668 kB) European Parliament, October 4, 2016, accessed on May 5, 2017 .
  36. ↑ Katharina Haase: "Merkel's Dead": AfD outraged with posting on Berlin attack. merkur.de , December 21, 2016, accessed on May 5, 2017.
  37. ↑ Alexander Häusler , Rainer Roeser: The “Alternative for Germany” - an answer to the right-wing populist loophole? In: Stephan Braun , Alexander Geisler, Martin Gerster (eds.): Strategies of the extreme right: Backgrounds - Analyzes - Answers. 2nd updated and expanded edition, Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-01983-9 , p. 119.
  38. ^ David Bebnowski: Marcus Pretzell: Between liberal and right-wing populist basis . In: The alternative for Germany. Rise and social representation of a right-wing populist party . Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-08285-7 , pp. 27-29.
  39. ↑ Dietmar Neuerer: AfD special auditor dismisses party vice Gauland. In: Handelsblatt . April 28, 2015, accessed May 9, 2015 . Justus Bender, Reiner Burger : quarrels in the AfD - a coup with an announcement. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . May 7, 2015, accessed May 9, 2015 .
  40. ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg Germany: NRW country chief: AfD politician Pretzell received financial support from Switzerland - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Politics. Retrieved June 11, 2017 .
  41. ↑ SVP advertising company sponsors AfD representatives . In: Basler Zeitung, Basler Zeitung . ISSN  1420-3006 ( bazonline.ch [accessed June 11, 2017]).
personal data
SURNAME Pretzell, Marcus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pretzell, Marcus Horst Hubertus (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lawyer and politician (AfD), MEP
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1973
PLACE OF BIRTH Rinteln