Udo Voigt (; born 14 April 1952) is a German politician and former

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) for the far-right and Neo-Nazi party

National Democratic Party of Germany National Democratic Party of Germany (, NPD), officially called The Homeland () since 2023, is a Far-right politics, far-right, Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi and Ultranationalism, ultranationalist political party in Germany. It was founded in 1964 as ...

(NPD) between 2014 and 2019. He was a member of the

European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is a committee of the European Parliament that is responsible for protecting civil liberties and human rights, as listed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. ...

. He served as leader of NPD from 1996 to 2011. By profession, he is a former captain in the

German Air Force The German Air Force (, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ) was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Ger ...

and has a master's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from LMU.

Early life and career

The son of a former Wehrmacht officer, Voigt was born in

Viersen Viersen (; ) is the capital of the Viersen (district), district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km ...

. After graduating from high school, he became an airframe mechanic apprentice. In 1971, he had studied

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences for two terms, but did not graduate. In 1972, he was conscripted by the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

. Later, he worked in the

from 1972 to 1984 and graduated as an officer from the Luftwaffe Officer's School. He served in Germany and at a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

facility in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Between 1982 and 1987, he studied

at the

Munich School of Political Science The Munich School of Politics and Public Policy (German: ''Hochschule für Politik München'') is an independent institution for political science within the Technical University of Munich. Established in 1950 by the Bavarian Parliament, the school ...

and graduated with a master's degree in

from LMU.

Political career

Voigt joined the NPD at age 16 in 1968. He was elected as party chairman in 1996, succeeding

Günter Deckert Günter Deckert (9 January 1940 – 31 March 2022) was a German far-right political activist. He was the leader of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). He served five years in prison in Germany for various offences, includ ...

. From September 2006 till 2010, Voigt was an elected member of the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

municipal government in the

Treptow-Köpenick Treptow-Köpenick () is the ninth Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, Germany, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Treptow and Köpenick. The borough was formerly part of East Berlin. Overview Among ...

district. He has been previously unsuccessful in the

European Parliament elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by Universal suffrage, universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after Electio ...

and when running for mayor of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

. On 13 March 2008, Voigt was charged (for at least the second time) with incitement ("

Volksverhetzung (), in English "incitement to hatred" (used also in the official English translation of the German Criminal Code), "incitement of popular hatred", "incitement of the masses", or "instigation of the people", is a concept in German criminal law t ...

") for distributing racially charged pamphlets. In 2009, he was given a seven-month suspended sentence and ordered to donate €2,000 to

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. Voigt protested against the charge, claiming it was politically motivated. On 13 November 2011, Voigt was replaced as leader of the NPD by

Holger Apfel Holger Apfel (born 29 December 1970) is a German politician who was the leader of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) from 2011 to 2013. He was a member of the Saxon Parliament between 2004 and 2014, serving as the chairma ...

. Voigt was elected as a

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 ...

in the 2014 European Elections. Voigt has in recent years become a strong supporter of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

and has said that Germany should have "a chancellor like Putin."Will Putin Unite the European and American Right?
''The New Yorker''

References

External links

* 1952 births Living people People from Viersen German politicians convicted of crimes National Democratic Party of Germany politicians National Democratic Party of Germany MEPs Leaders of political parties in Germany German Air Force personnel German anti-communists MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 {{Germany-MEP-stub People convicted of racial hatred offences