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‘We need change’: Germany’s far-right AfD eyes power after state election win

Germany's far-right AfD was on Monday celebrating a landmark victory in a regional vote, sending a shot across the bows of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government a year ahead of national elections.

Published: 2 September 2024 08:36 CEST

Supporters hold up the German national flag reading "We are the people" in Erfurt, eastern Germany on August 31st, 2024, during the last campaign event of the far-right AfD before Thuringia state elections. Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP

“We are ready and willing to talk to all parties,” the Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Tino Chrupalla said, warning there would be “no politics without the AfD”.

The anti-immigration party topped the polls for the first time ever in the former East German state of Thuringia with around 33 percent of the vote, and was headed for a close second place in neighbouring Saxony.

But Sunday’s election winner will find it hard to put together a working majority in Thuringia, with other parties having repeatedly ruled out collaboration with the AfD.

The memory of the Nazis, who also scored an initial state election success in Thuringia, makes working with far-right parties highly taboo.

“Voters know that we do not form coalitions with the AfD,” said Carsten Linnemann, the general secretary of the conservative CDU.

But Chrupalla called on other parties to drop their long-standing “firewall” against the AfD and instead respect the will of the voters.

‘Reasonable government’

The CDU only narrowly edged out the AfD with 32 percent of the vote in Saxony, and came second in Thuringia.

The conservatives still hold hopes of leading the next government in Thuringia, with its lead candidate Mario Voigt appealing for a “reasonable government” in a coalition led by the CDU.

The AfD’s controversial local leader, Björn Höcke, meanwhile declared that his party was the “people’s party in Thuringia”.

“We need change and change will only come with the AfD,” he said, hailing the “historic result”.

Top candidate of the far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany) party for regional elections in Thuringia Björn Höcke arrives at Thuringia’s State Parliament in Erfurt, eastern Germany, on September 1, 2024. Photo by JOERG CARSTENSEN / AFP

Höcke has often caused outrage with his outspoken statements and was fined twice this year for deliberately using a banned Nazi slogan.

Höcke’s divisive personality has made the prospect of forming a coalition with any of the other parties doubly difficult.

Sahra Wagenknecht, who heads the far-left BSW, said her party “cannot work together” with Höcke and has long ruled out a coalition with the AfD.

BSW, formed earlier this year as a breakaway from the ex-communist Linke party, secured vote shares in the teens in both regional polls and is seen as a key building block in any coalition.

BSW however has serious differences with the more established parties, complicating negotiations, including a pro-Russia stance and opposition to the planned stationing of US missiles in Germany.

‘Alarming’

Political divisions and the complicated electoral maths mean “forming a government will be difficult” after the two regional elections, said Marianne Kneuer, a professor of politics at the Dresden University of Technology.

Besides delivering an “alarming” win for the AfD, the election result was a “big slap for the entire government and Olaf Scholz”, Kneuer said.

Scholz’s Social Democrats recorded meek results, scoring around seven percent in Saxony and falling to six percent in Thuringia.

The chancellor’s partners in a fractious coalition – the liberal FDP and the Greens – struggled even more.

The FDP fell below the five-percent threshold for seats in both elections, while in Saxony the Greens only scraped in.

The results were “nothing to celebrate”, Social Democrats party chair Lars Klingbeil said, adding that the party had to be “better”.

“We have to take care of people’s everyday concerns,” Klingbeil said.

The run-up to the elections was dominated by a bitter debate over immigration stirred up by a suspected Islamist knife attack a few days before the vote.

Opposition parties, including the AfD and the CDU, seized on the deadly stabbing in the western city of Solingen to criticise the government for its supposedly lax border regime.

The government has sought to respond to the alarm by announcing stricter knife controls and rules for migrants in Germany illegally.

Founded in 2013 as an anti-euro group, the AfD has morphed into an anti-immigration party and capitalised on discontent with the government to rise in the polls.

By Sebastien ASH

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'Told to leave the country': How foreigners in Germany face xenophobia and racism

The word xenophobia comes from the Greek words xénos (foreign) and phóbos (fear), and is defined as the dislike of anything foreign or strange.

It tends to stem from the perception of a conflict between an in-group and an out-group, and often is related to the fear of losing a national, ethnic, or racial identity.

While xenophobia itself refers primarily to the fear experienced by someone, the danger is that xenophobic sentiments lead to racist behaviour–and sometimes violence.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has promoted xenophobic rhetoric for years.

In an investigation into the party earlier this year, Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) identified numerous statements made by AfD officials that questioned if foreign nationals belonged to the German nation, regardless of their level of integration, or even German citizenship.

Partly due to their propensity for promoting xenophobic ideas, the BfV labelled the AfD as an “suspected extremist” organisation – and in the state of Saxony, the local AfD branch was found to be a “confirmed extremist” organisation.

Given the AfD’s strong showing in the recent state elections in Saxony and Thuringia, some are concerned that xenophobia and related racist acts could be on the rise in Germany.

In a recent survey, we asked our readers if they have experienced a rise in xenophobia or discrimination towards foreigners in Germany.

Of the readers who immediately responded, 58.3 percent said they had noticed a rise, whereas 41.7 percent said they had not.

xenophobia graph

What does xenophobia look like?

In its most raw and ugly form, xenophobia manifests as grotesque acts of racism.

A 35-year-old from Kenya who chose not to share their name told The Local that they were called a racial slur and “shown the Hitler salute” recently while on a boat ride in Lübbenau.

For the record, demonstrating a Hitler salute (also called a Nazi salute or Hitlergruß) is illegal in Germany, along with hate speech, and is punishable by up to three years in prison.

But xenophobia is also often expressed with more subtlety.

Jamey, 45, from the US described a situation while camping in Saxony where the campground hosts talked down to him and those he was with, implying they were stupid because they were not German.

Another reader from India explained that xenophobia doesn’t always lead to direct confrontations, but can lead to a palpable sense that people are avoiding you: “Be it at a grocery store, a bus stop or a walk in the neighbourhood,” they said.

The reader estimated that in their experience roughly 25 percent of people might avoid them or engage in some form of evasion, but that it was enough to make them feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

Many respondents who said they felt xenophobia was increasing cited indirect acts like this, or otherwise verbal altercations, as being the primary example of racism they had experienced.

“It is mostly about smaller things so far,” said a 35-year-old from the Balkans, “But I’ve heard people shout hostile things at foreigners in the street a couple of times in the past year, which I personally didn’t experience before.” They added that they’ve lived in Germany for six and half years.

You might not notice it if you ‘look German’

A number of respondents who said they had not observed a rise in xenophobia or racism directly also noted that they might not immediately be perceived as foreigners themselves.

One respondent who told The Local that she had “not experienced any racism myself,” added that she’s a “white American” with German heritage.

For his part Ali, 56, from London said, “Only once or twice have I ever felt negatively treated as a foreigner here. But it’s not obvious I’m foreign until I open my mouth.”

Another respondent from Finland said that “as a white immigrant” that experience xenophobia “far less than people of colour”.

How does xenophobia affect work and day to day life?

Of those who had experienced xenophobia or racist acts in Germany, quite a few cited experiences in the workplace.

Elvis, who didn’t offer details about his age or location, said that one of his co-workers had referred to him as a “bush man”, and another had reacted with obscenities after seeing him with his wife.

He added that he’s worried rhetoric used by AfD leaders is increasing fear and intolerance of foreigners.

In less severe instances–though still hurtful and problematic–xenophobia in the workplace can come in the form of indirect comments. In some cases people might not even realise that their comments are rooted in xenophobic ideologies.

Carla, 47, from Portugal told The Local that “In the early days at my job, it was common to hear that ‘it was cheaper to hire a southerner than a German for my position’ and ‘I don’t understand why [the company] would hire someone that doesn’t speak German’”.

She added that she has since learned to speak German.

Beyond the workplace, some readers reported experiencing prejudice or racism in other public spaces.

“In the hospital some nurses were behaving in an openly racist manner”, said Hilary, 77, from the UK. Fortunately in her case, others stepped in “to ‘correct’ them”.

Erdi, 35, from Turkey, was also the victim of racist speech recently. He told The Local, “After my two-year-old son had a conflict with a German kid, their parents threatened us, telling us to leave the country if my son would continue to behave like this.”

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