Richard Spencer denied entry to European Schengen zone

Alt-right figurehead Richard Spencer has been denied entry to the European Schengen zone on his way to Sweden where he was to be the secret guest at an event organised by the Swedish branch of Altright.com.

Spencer was supposed to take part in a debate organised in Almedalen, a yearly political forum on the island of Gotland off the coast of Sweden. The weeklong event has been organised since the 1980’s and brings together representatives from all major parties as well as civic society organisations. It’s considered the most important political forum in the country and with just months until the general elections it attracts exceptional amounts of media attention.

Christoffer Dulny, the head of the nordic branch of Altright.com, said on Twitter and to Swedish far-right news outlets that Spencer was supposed to take part in a debate and meet with various groups and people but was stopped at a layover in Poland and refused entry into the Schengen area, the European passport-free zone where individuals can travel freely.

Spencer has previously been banned from entering Hungary but was this time stopped by Poland, possibly because of a speech he was supposed to hold at the Polish day of independence last year. Dulny who attended the violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in August last year was similarly banned from entering the US.

The Almedalen forum has fostered an intense debate in Sweden after the nazi Nordic Resistance Movement was last year given the right to organise events in the forum area, something that was denied this year. This however, has not stopped them from getting permission to hold rallies around the conference this year. This has been met with strong opposition from civic society organisations, some of which completely canceled their events during the week.

This is just latest in a long line of setbacks and embarrassments to Spencer and the alt-right.