Federal deputies Eduardo Bolsonaro (SP) and Bia Kicis (DF), both of the PSL, were criticized this Thursday (22) after posting on their social networks photos of the meetings they had with Beatrix von Storch, a far-right German MP and deputy head of the populist acronym AfD (Alternative for Germany).
“Conservatives around the world unite to defend Christian values and the family,” wrote Kicis, who also chairs the House Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ).
The critics were not long in coming. The German MP is known to have advocated xenophobic and anti-immigration policies, having previously been investigated for inciting hatred against Muslims.
Kicis tried to answer, “Nothing discredits your conduct, for all that I’ve been looking for. It’s the same story against Tories here and around the world.”
Eduardo Bolsonaro recalled the guidelines and the conservative customs that unite them. “We are united by ideals of family defense, border protection and national culture,” the MP said when posting photos with the German – with everyone present without masks.
In 2018, German police called for Von Storch to be investigated after the MP’s social media posts. At the time, she questioned the decision of the Cologne city police to publish messages in Arabic as part of a multilingual campaign.
The parliamentarian said: “What is wrong with this country? (…) Are they trying to please the barbarians, the Muslims and this horde of rapists?” Twitter and Facebook deleted the posts, classified as hate speech.
The MP is the granddaughter of Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, Minister of Finance of Nazi Germany. Kinship and the xenophobic flags it offers have been highlighted on social networks after the publications of Bolsonaro and Kicis.
The Holocaust Museum recalled the deputy’s trajectory. In response to Bia Kicis’ message, he said: “The concern and concern that this rapprochement between such a Brazilian parliamentary figure and Beatrix von Storch represents for the efforts to build a collective memory of the Holocaust in Brazil and for our own democracy is obvious ”.
The profile of the Jewish Democracy movement also commented on the meetings. “Under the guise of conservatism, Pocketnarism no longer cares to hide its sympathies,” he said.