Olaf Scholz in crisis as government sued by lefties over Palestinian Congress debacle

Left wing radicals are taking Germany's Chancellor to court, as they accuse the SPD leader of "outrageous" violations to the rule of law.

In a stinging rebuke, they charged Olaf Scholz with waging a war on liberal democracy and adopting the authoritarian practices of Hungary's Viktor Orban.

The dispute centres around Berlin's decision in April to impose a political ban on former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis.

The Greek left-wing radical was due to deliver a speech at a three-day Palestinian Congress in Germany's capital, convened to discuss the Gaza crisis.

However, police interrupted the gathering on the first day, preventing Mr Varoufakis from delivering his address.

Authorities cut the power to the conference hall and cancelled the final two days of the conference, which was supposed to take a critical look at Germany's military support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

Mr Varoufakis then had a "Betätigungsverbot" slapped on him by the Interior Ministry, which prevents him from travelling to Germany or even delivering speeches over the internet to gatherings inside the country.

The former Greek Finance Minister and his supporters accused Berlin of sliding "inexorably towards totalitarianism" and are going to court to try and overturn the ban.

In a furious statement issued by the German branch of his political organisation MeRA25, the left wing radicals said: "The authoritarian practices of Viktor Orban and Kyriakos Mitsotakis are being adopted freely in the bastions of liberal democracy whose authorities now feel free to not only violate basic freedoms but to sidestep the right of citizens to know who decided to ban them, when, and under what rationale.

"In view of this clear violation of German and European law.... Varoufakis is taking the German authorities to court for violation of his basic rights and defamation, indicating his intention to appeal, if need be, to the European courts.

"In invoking 'national security' to justify their slide towards totalitarianism, and with a view to fully support Israel‘s ‘right’ to commit war crimes against the Palestinian people undisturbed by criticism or protest, the German authorities have, in essence, abolished both the German Rule of Law and the most important principle of the EU – the citizens’ freedom of movement and the right to engage in political activity in every corner of the EU."

In a rousing finale they called on European citizens to rise up and fight against "the arbitrary, totalitarian and brutal invocation of “national security” to abolish basic political rights".

The European Realistic Disobedience Front (MeRA 25) was founded by Mr Varoufakis in 2018, promising a radical shakeup of the political status quo.

On their website they say they stand for "social security and a Green New Deal, for real democracy, global justice and a free and open Europe."

Varoufakis famously campaigned for Remain during the Brexit referendum, becoming a familiar face in the British media.

He later conceded that Brexit was “probably the right way for Britain” and criticised Remainers for persisting in their attempts to overturn the referendum result.