Arabic version: زعيم ساموا يعتذر عن فيديو لتحية نازية عام 2007
According to ABC News, Samoa’s Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt has apologised after video emerged showing him giving a Nazi salute and saying “heil Hitler” at a private family event in 2007.
Mr Leuatea Schmidt said on social media that the recording was made at a family gathering in Savai’i and was not intended for the public. The Samoa Observer, which first reported the video, said the seven-second clip showed him holding a microphone and encouraging a group of about 13 people to raise their right hands and repeat the phrase.
In his statement, Mr Leuatea Schmidt said he rejected Nazism, antisemitism and racism in all forms. He said he recognised that the words and gesture were “inappropriate and capable of causing offence and hurt” and apologised for using them. He added that they did not reflect his personal beliefs or the values of Samoa’s government or people.
Mr Leuatea Schmidt, who has German and Samoan heritage, was deputy speaker of Parliament when the video was recorded. He became prime minister in 2025 after a snap election followed former prime minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa’s failure to pass the national budget. The report came two days after his government reaffirmed a ban preventing the Samoa Observer from accessing the prime minister and covering government events and functions.
