The National Alliance claims to have members in Holland, France, Great Britain
and Germany, and has reported that Martyn Freling, a member in Holland, was
elected in 1994 to the Rotterdam City Council. Freling, who also belongs to a right-wing
extremist party in Holland, lost his seat on the council in the 1998 elections. William
Pierce also claims to have long-term ties to the British National Party (BNP), a racist,
anti-minority and neo-Fascist party in Great Britain, and to one of its leaders, John
Tyndall. In February 1997, Pierce reportedly addressed a BNP meeting in London.
Germany: Collaborating With the "Most Dangerous Party"
By its own report, the National Alliance also "has especially friendly
connections" with the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) or the German
National Democratic Party, an ultra-right-wing nationalist party in Germany. The
NPD program is opposed to foreigners and all "non-Germans." Even though the
party tries to gain adherents through constitutional methods and therefore calls itself
"democratic," it is known for being sympathetic to Nazi ideas.
Hans Jürgen-Förster, head of the Verfassungsschutz (Office for the Protection
of the Constitution), the German domestic intelligence agency, in Brandenburg, has said
that he favors outlawing the NPD. He considers the NPD "clearly and by far the most
dangerous party [in Germany] even though it has the fewest members." "Its
strategy," he added, "is to make coalitions with the entire extreme-right
spectrum, including neo-Nazis and violent Skinheads."
Udo Voigt, chairman of the NPD in Germany, seems to be interested in building bridges
to extremist groups outside Germany as well. In a 1996 interview in the NA publication National
Vanguard, he spoke of the need for the formation of a "worldwide confederation of
nationalists." Voigt pointed to his party's friendly relations with the
Ukrainian National Party and the Spanish nationalists, and to its successful collaboration
with the NA in the United States.
Exchanging Visits
In October 1997, Pierce, together with members of the NPD's youth branch, attended the
Fourth European Congress of Youth held in Fürth im Wald, Germany. Pierce returned
to Germany in February 1998 to attend the NPD's Congress in Passau. The New
York Times reported that videotapes of Hitler were sold at the gathering and that the
theme of the meeting was "national resistance." The event in Passau quickly
exploded into a heated clash between left- and right-wing demonstrators, and culminated in
the arrests of over 70 people. Pierce had originally been invited to address the Congress,
but the German authorities did not allow him to speak.
In April 1998, Pierce reportedly invited NPD board member Alexander von Webenau
to address the Alliance's Seventh Leadership Conference at the NA's national headquarters
in West Virginia.
Spanning Borders on the Internet
The NA's eagerness to maintain relationships with its overseas allies is also
evident in cyberspace. The National Alliance's Web site features links to the Web
sites of the NPD, the BNP, and Thule Netz, a German nationalist Web page that proclaims
its ties to other right-wing nationalists in Europe and the United States.
Although the full impact of the NA's ties to right-wing extremists abroad remains to be
seen, it is important to note that at least one of these allies, the NPD, is gaining more
political power in Germany. Bernd Wagner, project director for the Center for Democratic
Culture, which monitors extreme right-wing activity in Germany, reports that the NPD has
been attracting a growing number of young people in the eastern part of the country, where
unemployment is high and the party can stir up nationalist feelings. Wagner also reports
that in recent years the NPD has developed a national socialist wing that publicly
proclaims Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy and a contributor to Mein Kampf, a national
hero.
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