the article barely mentions the rise of the neo nazi party.
In two states of the former east,
neo nazis received enough votes to be part of the state government.
10 percent in saxony, 7 percent in brandenburg.

What will happen in September?
will there be enough votes on a national level for the neo Nazis to have representation in the parliament?

My take on the odds 35-65 against/for..

but everything is up in the air here.
(i am an american who lives in germany)

Round 3, Here we go again...

Germany's got three nuclear powers surrounding it. (not to mention all those foreign -US- troops inside) I don't think it'll be making noises anytime soon.
Interesting that the Germans still want their welfare state plus a good economy. You can have only one of the two, Deuscthers

yeah it will be interesting to see how things pan out..
the current major ruling party (the SPD to which Schroeder belongs) was putting up billboard signs awhile back..
Deutschland - Friedensmacht..

means Germany - Peace power..

only in terms of Supermacht - means superpower - friedensmacht.. meaning a power for peace..

god, Schroeder is such a slimebag

The bombings in London may have cleared the cobwebs from the minds of the normal hard working people in Germany who realize that by their irrational hatred of their friends, they have made themselves vulnerable to their enemies.

Nazism and communism had their runs and failed pretty spectacularly. Only those who have failed to heed Santayana's warning would be tempted to resuscitate those old nags.

What will happen in September? will there be enough votes on a national level for the neo Nazis to have representation in the parliament?

My take on the odds 35-65 against/for..

amiexpat,

the Neo nazis didn't get more than 1 % in the elections in North Rhine Westphalia, which has more inhabitants than all of former East Germany taken together. It's highly unlikely that they will get more then 1 to 2 % nationally.

Then again, this new party might make it impossible to change government altogether, and that Social and Christian Democrats might have to form a 'grand' coalition.

Ralf..
I meant 35/65 for/against...
To be honest Ralf all the rules have been thrown out the window.
PDS and Lafontaine a serious spoiler force?
Red red green - yes,
Fischer and Schroeder deny it, but they love having the reigns of power.. look at Schroeder's despicable behavior in 2002.
if push comes to shove they will go for red red green
(red red green means an alliance between the communists, the greens and the socialists)
I really bet you will have a big protest vote and yes, I stand by my 2/1 odds bet that they (the neo nazis) reach 5
percent.
As an outsider inside Germany - well let us just say things are getting more and more interesting by the day

Nazism and communism had their runs and failed pretty spectacularly. Only those who have failed to heed Santayana's warning would be tempted to resuscitate those old nags.

ERP - in Saxony in a recent election over 30 percent of the population voted for either the communists or the nazis.. in 21st century Germany..

Everything old is new again.

Keep an eye on the beer halls in the coming years.

I wonder how Poland & the Czech Republic are taking the news?

Perhaps those voters are too young to realize what Nazis and Communists are?

yeah, I can be very pessimistic at times..
the Germans need to change.. quickly.. their society is in the beginnings of a death spiral.
and it will continue to accelerate

I think this is pretty harmless.

First, it's a minute movement born out of a lagging economy.

Second, Nazi's & commies hate eachother, thus cancel eachother out (imagine our own extreme right/left, & take it to the 10th power).

Third, the prospect of nazis & commies taking over is likely to boot the rest of the population into making the kind of reforms they need to get the economy back on track.

--Second, Nazi's & commies hate eachother,--

Chamberlain found out the hard way, William, and so might you.

Sad to see what has happened since the days of Helmut Kohl.

Take note: the nazis subsequently invaded, pillaged, & raped Russia, the communists were one of the many groups targeted by the holocaust, & the Nazi's rose to power on an anti-commie agenda.

The fact that they managed to forge a year-long "alliance" out of that is more credit to their respective leaders' greed & (on Stalin's part) stupidity then the way they're set up.

Ahhhh, the Watermelons show their true colors - Green on the outside, bright Red on the inside.

I don't think anyone's noted yet that this isn't a new party. It's just a new name for an old party (the PDS - Party of German Socialists) which developed out of the DDR's communist party (SED). So in reality, it's more like a comeback for the SED. At least they recognize that left = communist.

In at least one formerly DDR state, the SPD and PDS linked up for a red-red coalition because the PDS had such a large representation. (I think the Greens were involved there, too.)