European nationalist parties block Fake News reporters

A group of parties in the European Parliament is organising the meeting, which will include members of France’s Front National, Italy’s Northern League, the Party for Freedom of the Netherlands and the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Frontrunner and National Front leader Marine Le Pen, Dutch PVV leader Geert Wilders, as well as AfD co-leader Frauke Petry and the party’s European lawmaker Marcus Pretzell will feature at the event.

Ludovic de Danne, an advisor to Petry, told Le Figaro that the meeting was a “European counter-summit”. It will be Petry’s first head to head with Le Pen, with both women expected to discuss party policies that overlap, de Danne explained.

And while members of the upcoming AfD and Front National will be there, the mainstream media were not invited: Spiegel, Handelsblatt, FAZ and ARD will not be attending.

ARD, a foul German propaganda spout, said it was told by the AfD that it was refused access to the meeting for “not meeting journalistic standards in its past reporting on the party”.

The German public broadcaster is furious about their exclusion and have threatened legal action against the country’s anti-immigration party after it was denied access to the event.

ARD’s program director, Volker Herres, “condemned this massive encroachment against the freedom to report”. The station has now threatened legal action. “We reserve the right to take legal steps,” ARD said.

“This gathering is of great importance for the future political course of this movement,” the station said. ARD is known for its fondness of hysterical hyperbole such as “far-right”, “extremist”, “totalitarian”, “Neo-Nazi”, “populist”, and “lunatic” to dismiss mild criticisms of Merkel’s open borders.

The broadcaster rejected the claim of its dismal reporting standards and whined about how its audience would now be left in the dark. The AfD has risen to third place in public opinion polls ahead of the country’s general election, which is expected in about nine months.

The non-acccredited Spiegel journalist Melanie Amann also tweeted her alarm at being fingered as part of the Fake News set: “Will be a cuddly rightwing family meeting in Koblenz, without annoying media.”