The rise of populism is provoking hysteria among the German elites.
The rise of the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland), Germany’s right-wing populist party, is continuing to rattle the political establishment. Last month, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) caused uproar when he suggested that his party might be willing to cooperate with the AfD at the local level.
The far-right Alternative for Germany party has become increasingly influenced by extremist conspiracy theorists, according to the head of German domestic intelligence.
The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has warned that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has become increasingly extremist and anti-democratic as the far-right party, surging in opinion polls, picks new candidates for EU elections.
Thomas Haldenwang, president of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), told the DPA news agency that some of the AfD candidates had expressed “far-right extremist conspiracy theories” during the party conference in Magdeburg, where the selections were made over the weekend.
Haldenwang said party members were swapping openly racist theories such as the “Great Replacement,” which holds that political elites are deliberately introducing nonwhite migrants into Europe to supplant the white race.
Yea just a conspiracy – Germany in a state of SIEGE: Merkel was cheered when she opened the floodgates to migrants. Now, with gangs of men roaming the streets and young German women being told to cover up, the mood’s changing
The political mainstream is blind to their allure
To understand how the far-Right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) became Germany’s second-largest party, consider the events of the past five days. In an interview with the state broadcaster ZDF on Sunday, Friedrich Merz, the leader of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), made the mistake of suggesting that he would be willing to work in a coalition with the far-Right party. Less than 24 hours later, after facing a barrage of outrage, he was forced into a humiliating U-turn. This is how Germany’s political class hopes to deal with the rise of the AfD: their political resonance is recognised, but any breaking of the cordon sanitaire around them is regarded as dangerous legitimisation.
Amid sky-high polling figures for the AfD that have the country’s establishment spooked, a new opinion survey that examined the demographic profiles of those who support the conservative, anti-globalist party revealed that, unlike before, they come from all social classes, ages, and education groups.
Whereas in past years the demographic profile of the party’s supporters tended to be older, less educated, and under-employed, now, according to an opinion survey carried out by the Institute for New Social Answers (INSA)—a prestigious German political and market research firm—AfD voters and sympathizers, people whom the Thuringian state spy boss calls the ‘brown dregs of German society’ are increasingly young, educated, and wealthy.
The party is filling a vacuum on the German Right
It has been quite the week for Alternative for Germany (AfD). Hot on the heels of winning a run-off election for the post of district administrator in the eastern town of Sonneberg, the party now also boasts its first elected mayor in the small town of Raguhn-Jeßnitz in Saxony-Anhalt. As of yesterday, 42-year-old Hannes Loth can claim to have broken yet another ceiling for Germany’s most Right-wing political movement. Although these are small districts in parts of what used to constitute East Germany, it demonstrates that the recent AfD polling gains are beginning to have real political consequences.
Fresh on the heels of a breakthrough victory in Thuringia, where the conservative, antiglobalist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) had its candidate—for the first time in the party’s history—elected to serve as the district administrator in Sonneberg, the AfD took yet another historic step forward this weekend as its candidate won a mayoral election in Saxony-Anhalt.
The German right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) won an absolute majority in local elections for the first time ever. The government-funded German Jewish Council was appalled, but AfD is the most pro-Israel party in Germany.
A wave of outrage and disgust from around the world greeted the election of a modest lawyer named Robert Sesselmann to the provincial office of county commissioner in Sonneberg, Thuringia, a woodland province in Eastern Germany. The reactions must seem familiar to Israeli voters who support the Conservative government Netanyahu VI. You would think they elected Itamar Ben-Gvir as police minister.
The attention showered on an obscure by-election for the humble office of county commissioner in East Germany’s tiniest county is quite astounding. The real reason for the outburst, of course, is the nationwide upsurge in support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
For the first time in Germany, the AfD has won a district council election, administrators announced on Sunday.
Voters in the central German town of Sonneberg elected AfD candidate Robert Sesselmann at the expense of incumbent district administrator Jürgen Köpper of the CDU.
In the runoff election in the Thuringian district of Sonneberg, Sesselmann won 52.8% of the vote, earning him the necessary absolute majority, according to election officials.
Germans are exasperated with the establishment parties.
Is populism making a comeback in Germany? ‘I’m worried’, said chancellor Olaf Scholz, after recent opinion polls showed soaring support for the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. The latest polls predict the AfD winning between 18 per cent and 19 per cent of a hypothetical vote. That puts the AfD on a par with – or even ahead of – Scholz’s ruling Social Democrats (SPD).
Germany’s mainstream parties are stuck in an old ideology
During a press conference in March, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised that the green transition will lead to growth rates last seen during the economic miracle of the 1950s. During that decade, the West German economy grew by 8% per annum, outperforming all of Europe and most of the world. As we now know, at the time of Scholz’s speech the economy was already in recession, and based on current forecasts Germany could well be the only G7 nation with a contracting economy this year.
The far-right Alternative for Germany is flying high, reaching 18% support in two nationwide polls. The party is sharpening its profile by attacking the Green Party’s climate policies.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been in an uproar for weeks. According to the opposition party, the policies of the federal government are not only failing, but a threat to peace and prosperity.
The far-right party positions itself for confrontation in almost all areas of policy: When it comes to the war in Ukraine, the AfD calls for peace negotiations instead of weapons deliveries. For migration, the party advocates tightening the borders instead of recruiting skilled workers.
Above all, the far-right populist party portrays itself as an aggressive opponent to the government’s energy and climate policy.
The Right-wing party has become an unwanted kingmaker in Germany
From gay officials to net-zero proposals, Berlin has often been a bellwether for wider trends in Germany. The election of a new conservative mayor on Thursday — the first in more than two decades — might well be an indicator of how the country is governed going forward.
Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has reclassified the far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) youth wing as an extremist entity that threatens democracy, it said on Wednesday.
The domestic spy agency began monitoring the Young Alternatives organization for suspected extremism in 2019, but it will now be monitored as a confirmed case of right-wing extremism.
It said the the group “propagates a racial concept of society based on basic biologistic assumptions.”
The people who arranged a lunchtime meeting between three Conservative MPs and controversial far-right German politician Christine Anderson are disputing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s claim that the Canadian legislators went into the gathering with no knowledge of Ms. Anderson’s views.
The two organizers of the meeting, Stacey Kauder and Bethan Nodwell, also say Mr. Poilievre has shown a lack of respect for the many Canadians who turned out for the other events they arranged with Ms. Anderson, which included speaking engagements in several Canadian cities last week.
The de-escalatory, anti-war position taken by the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party appears to have struck a chord with the German population. The latest opinion survey revealed that the party’s support has climbed to a record high, surpassing that of the hawkish Green party led by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
