The German Embassy in Moscow has refused a visa request by Russian ultra-nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky to visit Germany next month.
Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel ordered the ban on the grounds that the visit might work against “Germany’s democratic foundations.”
Zhirinovsky, who leads Russia’s Liberal Democratic Party, was invited by the neo-Nazi Volks Union Party to conduct a lecture tour throughout the country at the end of September.
This is not the first time Zhirinovsky has been banned from Germany.
In December 1993, the German government denied Zhirinovsky and seven of his associates permission to enter Germany, saying Zhirinovsky’s presence would “prejudice German state interests.”
Late last year, Zhirinovsky made waves by entering Austria and staying at an Alpine resort with a friend who was a member of the Nazi SS.
He entered Austria by passing through Munich, Germany.
At the Munich airport, he met with Gerhard Frey, leader of the extreme right-wing German People’s Union.
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