Bavaria leader declines to dismiss deputy over antisemitic leaflet

Markus Söder stands by Hubert Aiwanger after he apologies for flyer found in his school satchel in the 1980s

The leader of Germany’s powerful state of Bavaria has said he will not dismiss his deputy despite a row over an antisemitic leaflet which he admitted having carried in his school satchel as a teenager.

Markus Söder said it would not be proportionate to sack Hubert Aiwanger, a move that would have upended the ruling coalition in the southern state six weeks before a regional election.