German far right sets sights on power as 'firewall' cracks

Alternative for Germany revels in polling successes at party congress

Supporters of Germany's AfD at the party congress in Magdeburg, under the slogan 'ready for more'. Getty Images

Germany’s far right set its sights on power on Friday at an annual congress where it revelled in record poll numbers and assailed the “green ideology” it blames for a flagging economy.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is “ready for more” after a run of successes that has put cracks in the “firewall” meant to keep it out from power, said party co-leader Tino Chrupalla, in the east-central city of Magdeburg.

He used a speech to savage ruling parties for arming Ukraine, pursuing green policies and presiding over stagnation, as new figures on Friday showed Germany’s gross domestic product remained flat in the second quarter.

A 93-page draft policy platform for the conference says the EU should be replaced by a looser alliance and describes fundamentalist Islam as a “danger to Europe”.

First elected to parliament in a backlash against the arrival of Syrian refugees in 2015, the AfD is calling for tougher border controls to end what it called a “welcome culture” towards migrants.

The AfD is also turning its fire on German European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as it positions itself as an “Alternative for Europe” at EU elections next year.

Mr Chrupalla accused Ms von der Leyen of overseeing a “disastrous migration policy” and what he said were backfiring sanctions on Russia, as the AfD draws up a list of candidates for the European Parliament.

It also has high hopes for three regional elections taking place in 2024 in the former East Germany, the AfD’s electoral heartland, that could see it become the largest party for the first time.

Such a result could make it difficult for mainstream parties to maintain the post-Second World War taboo that there should be no co-operation with the far right.

Mr Chrupalla said the AfD “could take on government responsibility” in the eastern states.

Polls have shown the AfD climbing as high as 22 per cent nationally and it made a historic breakthrough last month by winning a district election in the east.

The leader of the centre-right Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, caused a storm this week after suggesting his party would have to work with the AfD where it has won power at municipal level.

He later backtracked, but Mr Chrupalla leapt on his comments to declare on Friday: “Friedrich Merz got it right – it was wrong to build a firewall against our party. It was wrong for Germany.”

The AfD said it would be willing to enter a coalition but would not consider working with the Greens, who are the second-biggest party in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition and are blamed by the right for mismanaging the economy.

Mr Merz’s party has also concentrated its attacks on the Greens as the far right – which questions widely accepted climate science – is positioning itself as the alternative.

The AfD’s surge in the polls has coincided with a protracted row over a Green-led plan to replace gas boilers with heat pumps, a policy that has caused tension within the three-party government.

Green Economy Minister Robert Habeck conceded that Friday’s GDP figures were “anything but satisfactory”. He blamed structural problems, such as labour shortages and high energy costs caused by past reliance on Russia.

Mr Chrupalla took objection to Mr Habeck’s claim that, despite the economic figures, there was no need for “German angst”.

“The Greens are Germany’s most dangerous party. They want to turn an industrialised country into a field of ruins,” said Mr Chrupalla.

“Anyone who builds a firewall … remains a prisoner of green ideology.”

The AfD has also criticised Germany’s support for Ukraine and called for contacts with Moscow to resume. Mr Chrupalla called it a “tragedy” that Ukrainians were fighting and dying in German tanks in a war with Russia.

Anti-extremist groups protested outside the party congress in Magdeburg in the former communist east. Mr Chrupalla urged AfD members to show unity in a movement with a record of internal squabbling.