MUNICH - (Own report) The "International Institute for Nationality Rights and Regionalism", a well known front organisation for German foreign policy can see good opportunities for the further extension of ethnic/racial concepts in Europe. At its most recent conference the institute maintained that ethnic conflicts were smouldering in the nation states of France, Spain and Ireland, which could be pacified by "Ethnic Group Law".

The institute (Internationales Institut fuer Nationalitaeten und Regionalismus" ("Intereg") was founded in 1977 and, according to an internal document, was "practically carried by the government of Bavaria (Freistaat Bayern)" during its early years. Its address, when founded, was the same as the Bavarian State Chancellery. Several former Nazi theoreticians (Raschhofer, Veiter) and at least one convicted Nazi Criminal (Riedl) belonged to the founding group of "Intereg". The institute operates within the milieu of German "expellee" organisations. The present Vice President of Intereg, Estebauer published a far-ranging work in 1977 together with Guy Heraud, a French ethnicist. In this book the German "blood theory" of an ethnically pure people's (Volk) state was opposed to the Western concept of the nation state.

Already during the Nazi era, notorious front organisations of German foreign policy propagated the idea of a European system of "Ethnic group rights". Minorities in neighbouring states could claim to be collective subjects of the Reich and demand autonomy. The aim of German "ethnic group" policy was to weaken European opponents through minority conflicts. In the final consequence, the territorial integrity of neighbouring states could be broken up by German-led "ethnic groups". (The precise method used by Germany in Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia - see the book Fascist Europe Rising - and through the regionalisation of the UK along ethnic lines - Scottish and Welsh "regions" -Ed)

In the meantime, the "ethno politicians" from around the Bavarian State Chancellery recommend their "ethnic groups" and model of regionalism for world-wide operation (Einsatz). At the recent conference, Esterbauer maintained that Afghanistan and the Near East could be pacified in this way. Intereg also has contacts in the Arab states bordering Israel.