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 elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) for the far-right and Neo-Nazi party

National Democratic Party of Germany The National Democratic Party of Germany (german: Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands or NPD) is a far-right Neo-Nazi and ultranationalist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 1964 as successor to the German Reich Party ...

(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 (german: Luftwaffe, lit=air weapon or air arm, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ''Bundeswehr'') was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War a ...

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, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from LMU. 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 holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

and has said that Germany should have "a chancellor like Putin."

Early life and career

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

Viersen Viersen (; li, Veeëse) is the capital of the 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 east o ...

. 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 si ...

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

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

. 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, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

facility in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. Between 1982 and 1987, he studied

at the Munich School of Political Science 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 and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

municipal government in the

Treptow-Köpenick Treptow-Köpenick () is the ninth borough of Berlin, Germany, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Treptow and Köpenick. Overview Among Berlin's boroughs it is the largest by area with the lowest popul ...

district. He has been previously unsuccessful in the

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

and when running for mayor of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

. 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 that ...

") 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 called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

. 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 elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

in the

2014 European Elections Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

References

External links

* 1952 births Living people People from Viersen German nationalists National Democratic Party of Germany politicians National Democratic Party of Germany MEPs Leaders of political parties in Germany German Air Force personnel MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 {{Germany-MEP-stub