The Alternative for Germany, AfD, is eager for things to proceed quickly now: “Chancellor Scholz has long lost the trust of the German people and he must clear the way for new elections immediately,” Alice Weidel co-chair of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) put it after the government collapsed.
The extreme right-wing party wants Chancellor Olaf Scholz to face a vote of confidence next week, rather than wait until January. “He owes it to this country to step down as soon as possible,” Weidel added.
Closing borders, ending aid to Ukraine
The AfD has been fiercely attacking the governing coalition since it was formed by the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, and the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) at the end of December 2021. It has criticized the coalition for failing on all policy levels. The party has called for a radical change, especially in migration and foreign policy. Similar to US President Donald Trump, the party is campaigning hard against illegal migration and open borders.
And it vehemently opposes all arms shipments to Ukraine. In June 2024, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a speech in the German Bundestag, the AfD parliamentary group decided to showcase their contempt for the guest by not attending the Bundestag session.
Now that the governing coalition has come to an end, the AfD is calling for an end to further arms and financial aid to Ukraine: “I would also advise getting this done in the last few months before the next general election, because it will continue to ruin the budget of the federal government,” said AfD co-chairman Tino Chrupalla.
AfD riding wave of anti-liberal sentiment
New elections could see the AfD make significant gains in the polls and thus greater influence in federal politics. In the last federal election in September 2021, the party secured 10% of the vote. In November 2024, opinion polls put it at around 17%.
The party’s platform seems well-suited for a quick election. It would no doubt maintain its tough confrontational strategy.
For years now, the party has been able to shape German politics by appealing to a number of grievances — especially on asylum and migration policy.
During a press conference, Tino Chrupalla laid out his party’s list of demands. “We want an end to the integration of illegal migrants into the social system, the deportation of criminals who have already been ordered to leave the country, and we want to close the borders.”
In order to achieve its goals, the AfD is calling on what they call the “mainstream parties” like the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU), and the FDP to work with them. “We call on the CDU/CSU and the FDP to finally accept their civic responsibility and to reach an agreement with us. After all, we represent millions of voters,” said Alice Weidel in response to the end of the coalition.
The AfD is putting pressure on the Christian Democrats in particular to reverse their categorical refusal to work with the AfD. “We also want to finally see an end to this marginalization,” Chrupalla said. “The citizens of Germany expect this country’s problems to finally be solved and this crisis to be resolved.”
However, a coalition of AfD and CDU remains a very remote possibility. This is because the AfD has grown increasingly extreme.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, has been monitoring the party on account of its alignment with the extreme right.
AfD sees the ‘woke’ Greens as main enemy
The AfD’s favorite enemy is the Greens, whom it criticizes for their climate and economic policies, but above all because of their cosmopolitan vision of society.
However, the AfD has also been extremely critical of the conservative Christian Democrats. For years, former CDU Chancellor Angela Merkel had been the target of the party’s wrath on account of her migration policies in 2015. During this year’s EU elections, the AfD’s lead candidate, Maximilian Krah, named the CDU as his main opponent and called for his “destruction.”
This radicalism was one of the reasons why CDU party chairman Friedrich Merz said in an interview with Editorial Network Germany in August 2024: “We can’t work with this party. That would spell the end of the CDU.”
It is still unclear what impact the AfD’s numerous scandals will have on the federal election. In November 2024, three AfD party members were arrested for allegedly supporting a suspected far-right terrorist group. The AfD now wants to expel them.
Links to Neo-Nazis
However, it appears that there are already extensive links between party members and neo-Nazi and far-right networks. An AfD member of the Bavarian state parliament is also under investigation for right-wing agitation. And a former AfD member of the Bundestag is currently in custody for alleged involvement in the planning of a coup d’état.
Due to the increasing radicalization of the AfD, a group of non-partisan members of the Bundestag intends to file a motion in parliament to ban the AfD. If it receives the necessary majority, the Federal Constitutional Court would have to decide.
This article was originally written in German.
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