Germany bans the playback of neo-Nazi songs by European football fans

The phrase “L’amour Toujours” means “love forever” in French. Ironically, the song – in its new interpretation – has become an anthem to xenophobia. The song, originally released in the early 2000s, has gained popularity among far-right groups, and even young Germans have started chanting “Foreigners out, Germany for the Germans” to the opening music.

At a party in northern Germany last month, one of the revelers made the Nazi salute during the song. The video went viral and prompted German authorities to take the matter seriously. Three weeks ago, Bavarian police arrested two men, aged 21 and 26, for singing the song in a neo-Nazi interpretation during a festival. They were expelled from the event and fined.

The UEFA Euro League is now facing a problem as videos have been posted on social media showing Hungarian fans marching before their match against Germany and Polish and Austrian fans singing the song together before their two teams met. Italian fans went even further and hummed the song from the 54th minute of the match against Spain.

The German government has officially asked X (formerly Twitter) to block all of the videos mentioned. “We will not tolerate xenophobia,” an official statement said. The song itself originally has no racist context. Creator Gigi D’Agostino recently said: “My song is about a wonderful feeling that unites people; it is the power of love that makes us celebrate. That is the only meaning the song has.”