Europe’s extremist activists from the Identitarian Movement recently convened with international far-right leaders to discuss a policy known as ‘remigration,’ which is gaining traction amidst the rising influence of nationalist agendas across the Global North. This development follows a significant revelation in January 2024 by the investigative German paper Correctiv, which exposed deliberations from a clandestine meeting in Potsdam, prompting thousands across Germany to protest the burgeoning political movement.
The secretive gathering in Potsdam on November 25, 2023, involved an influential group including members of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and its splinter group, the “Value Union” (Werteunion), represented by the former director of the domestic intelligence service BVT. Discussions centered on ‘remigration’ as a response to the ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory, which posits a hidden agenda to replace Europe’s white, Christian population with non-white peoples of other cultures, religions, and traditions, particularly Muslims.
This conspiracy theory, originating from French author Renaud Camus, has various iterations. One is the Eurabia conspiracy, alleging a plot by European political elites and Middle East/North Africa leaders to replace native populations with Muslim immigrants. Another suggests that Jewish billionaire George Soros plans to infiltrate Europe with African and Muslim immigrants. These conspiracies often include aspects of an alleged leftist-Islamist alliance, termed Islamo-Gauchisme, echoing antisemitic concepts like Judeo-Bolshevism.
During the Potsdam meeting, participants acknowledged the unconstitutional nature of measures to expel non-whites. Consequently, they explored legal avenues for ‘remigration,’ suggesting the creation of pressure to induce “non-desirable populations” to leave voluntarily. Crucially, this plan was envisioned to include German citizens, differentiating between those of white and non-white descent, with the stated aim to “secure the ethnocultural continuity of European nations,” as later articulated by Sellner. The ultimate goal is to “re-whiten the Western world” by establishing what they perceive as homogenous white societies, relocating non-white populations to their or their ancestors’ countries of origin.
While the immediate reaction was people taking to the streets and protesting these ideas and the rapprochement of individuals from the far-right and the centre-right, other political actors from the far-right such as the leaders of the Austrian far-right FPÖ fully embraced these ideas. The AfD initially felt compelled to distance itself, issuing an explanation that their understanding of ‘remigration’ did not involve deporting non-white citizens. However, this process inadvertently normalized the idea, allowing the AfD to use the notion in a “playful way.” Similarly, the French National Rally, which initially distanced itself from the controversial ‘remigration’ concept, shifted its stance after the Donald Trump administration adopted it.
Under the Trump administration, the US State Department announced plans to establish an Office of Remigration, focused on reducing immigration to the United States. This recognition by a leading global power has elevated ‘remigration’ from a marginal idea to a more mainstream concept, set against the backdrop of a broader shift towards the extreme right in America.
Further cementing this trend, the pan-European Identitarian Movement organized its second “Remigration Summit” on May 30 at the Quinta da Salmanha venue in Figueira da Foz, Portugal. This event, which reportedly followed a first convention in 2025 hosted in Milan, Italy, in May 2025, gathered over 500 attendees, including representatives from leading political parties and movements across Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, the UK, and the United States.
According to the organizers’ official website, the summit aimed at “shaping the future of Europe and the West through sovereignty, identity, and demographic renewal”—a euphemism for creating racially pure Western societies. They define ‘remigration’ as “the answer to decades of replacement migration and multiculturalism that have disintegrated our nations to the point of dysfunction.” This process is projected to unfold over the next 20-30 years, focusing on “returning illegal immigrants and harmful legal migrants, and putting pressure on the non-assimilated parallel societies to reharmonise the nation culturally.”
The concept of “parallel societies,” a German invention, attributes alleged self-separation to non-white populations, particularly Muslims, who were originally enlisted as guest workers decades ago and concentrated in impoverished areas. This places blame on these communities for not assimilating, rather than on host societies that often treated them as racialized working poor. The notion of “non-assimilated parallel societies” directly contradicts claims by parties like the AfD that such ‘remigration’ measures are legal and constitutional.
Notable attendees at this year’s summit included two American “VIP guests”: Gregory Bovino, the self-styled “Nazi-look” former chief of the US Border Patrol, and American white nationalist Jared Taylor. Bovino, known for leading brutal crackdowns and televised deportations by ICE, and who was dismissed after agents under his command killed a nurse, celebrated sharing his “expertise” on combating “illegal aliens destroying European culture.”
The increasing normalization of these ideas is further underscored by America’s shift to the extreme right. Recently, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth criticized European political elites during a commemoration speech in France for their immigration policies, describing “dangerous ideologies” as an “invasion” storming the continent’s shores. The 47th president, during a trip to Europe, had previously stated more bluntly that European leaders should “stop this horrible invasion” because “this immigration is killing Europe.”
As Europe’s far-right mobilizes to institutionalize the idea of ‘remigration’ to remove its non-white population, the continent’s future will largely depend on how effectively anti-fascist positions can push back against the normalization of this racist ideology.
Hence, they discussed how remigration could take place by legal means. It was suggested that pressure should be created to push out non-desirable populations so they would leave themselves.
