Marcus Pretzell (born 16 July 1973) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

politician and was

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

from 2016 to 2019. He was a member of the

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

, part of the

Europe of Nations and Freedom Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF; , ENL) was a far-right Political groups of the European Parliament, political group that operated in the European Parliament between 2015 and 2019. It was composed of 37 MEPs and only existed during the Eighth ...

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 European Conservatives and Reformists may refer to: *European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), a soft Eurosceptic European political party *European Conservatives and Reformists Group The European Conservatives and Reformists ...

group. Following this, he joined

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician of the far-right National Rally, National Rally party (RN). She served as the party's president from 2011 to 2021, and ran for the French presidency in ...

faction. During a speech at an

AfD Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), ...

party convention in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

, 4–5 July 2015, he said, "We had the discussion about whether we were the Euro party or the Pegida party. We are both." Pretzell is involved in the AfD donation scandal. Beside of him the AfD Federal – and European – politicians Alice Weidel,

Jörg Meuthen Jörg Hubert Meuthen (; born 29 June 1961) is a German economist, academic and politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Germany from 2017 until 2024. He was the frontrunner for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party at ...

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.

References

External links

* 1973 births Living people People from Rinteln MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 Alternative for Germany MEPs The Blue Party (Germany) MEPs {{Germany-MEP-stub