Alternative for Germany

Alternative for Germany Alternative für Deutschland
Abbreviation	AfD
Leaders	Tino Chrupalla Alice Weidel
Parliamentary leadership	Tino Chrupalla Alice Weidel
Founded	2013
Ideology	German nationalism Euroscepticism Right-wing populism National conservatism Anti-Islam Anti-immigration Antifeminism Illiberalism
Political position	Far-right
Website
afd.de

Alternative for Germany (German: Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) is a far-right, right-wing populist, and national conservative political party in Germany. It holds eurosceptic, anti-immigrant, and pro-Russian views. The party supports large-scale remigration and denies climate change. Political scientists have described the AfD's views as völkisch (ethno-nationalist).

History

In 2012, Alexander Gauland, Bernd Lucke and Konrad Adam formed the Electoral Alternative 2013. It was critical of Germany's policy toward the eurozone crisis. Some candidates who were part of the Electoral Alternative 2013 ran for election in Lower Saxony in alliance with the Free Voters. They then decided to form a party to compete in the 2013 federal election. The group wanted to abolish the euro, so the Free Voters refused to join forces.

The AfD's first supporters were economists, business leaders, journalists and former members of the Christian Democratic Union who were critical of the eurozone.

The AfD held their first convention on 14 April 2013. Members elected Bernd Lucke, Frauke Petry and Konrad Adam as speakers.

In the 2013 federal election, the party received 4.6% of the national vote with more than 2 million votes. The party did not win any seats.

Before the 2014 European Parliament election, the AfD held a conference on 25 January 2014 in Bavaria. They chose the slogan, Mut zu Deutschland ("Courage [to stand up] for Germany"). In February 2014, some AfD officials wanted to join an alliance with the hard eurosceptic party, UKIP. However, Bernd Lucke and other officials and election candidates wanted to instead join an alliance with the British Conservative Party. In the European elections, the AfD won 7 seats in the European Parliament, and joined the European Conservatives and Reformists.

On 4 July 2015, Frauke Petry was elected as the principal speaker of the party. She was a member of the national conservate faction within the party. Her election is seen as a shift of the party further to the right wing, as the party now began to focus on Islam and immigration. Lucke believed the party was turing into the "PEGIDA party." He left the party a few days later, citing the rise of xenophobia within the party. On 19 July 2015, Lucke formed the Alliance for Progress and Renewal (ALFA).

In February 2016, AfD announced an alliance with the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). On 8 March 2016, the European Conservatives and Reformists decided they will begin to exclude the AfD from their groups due to their links to the far-right FPÖ.

In 2016, the party won seats in the Berlin, Baden-Württemberg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt Landtags.

At the AfD party conference held on 30 April to 1 May 2016, the party called for a ban on burkhas, minarets and the call to prayer, using the slogan "Islam is not a part of Germany".

Frauke Petry decided not to run as the party's main candidate in the 2017 federal election. This was a consequence of the internal power struggle within the party. The party chose Alexander Gauland, a strong conservative and former member of the CDU, to lead the party in the elections. Alice Weidel, who is seen as being more moderate, was elected as his running mate. The party's platform was mainly to close the borders to asylum seekers, end sanctions on Russia and leave the European Union if Germany's national sovereignty is not restored. After the election, the party received 5.8 million votes, winning 94 seats in the Bundestag. This is the first time the party has held seats in the Bundestag.

A day after the successful 2017 federal election, Frauke Petry left the party. She did this as a response to extremist comments made by some members in the AfD. She would later join the Blue Party, which is another right-wing and conservative party.

A politician representing AfD was elected in 2023 as a mayor.

The Hamburg Regional Court issued a preliminary injunction against ZDF and NDR, prohibiting the claim that the Potsdam meeting involved discussions about the deportation of German citizens, ruling it an untrue factual assertion.

Beliefs

The AfD's ideology has been described as far right, right-wing populist, anti-European, illiberal, authoritarian, national conservative, and anti-immigration. The party is against same-sex marriage and denies climate change. It has also aligned itself with groups that are against feminism, and the party supports restricting abortions. The AfD is also against queer people. Political scientists and experts describe the AfD's views as völkisch (a German form of ethnic nationalism) because the party often distinguishes between people based on their migration background. The party calls for remigration on a large scale.

Alternative for Germany is eurosceptic and critical about the influx of foreigners in Germany. The party calls for withdrawing Germany from the European Union (EU), the euro currency, the Paris Agreement, and the World Health Organization (WHO). It has close ties with Russia. The party has become an integral part of a worldwide network of far-right and authoritarian parties, figures and movements.

The AfD is considered more radical and extreme than many other European far-right parties. This has led to many of them distancing themselves from the AfD.

The AfD has shifted the German political discourse toward the right and started culture wars around topics like gender, LGBTQ, and public broadcasters. The party's rhetoric has normalized extremism, downplayed scandals, and devalued activities with a good reputation, like standing up for minorities. The AfD connects many problems in society to migration, which has been described as scapegoating. The party's rhetoric focuses specifically on crimes thought to have been made by foreigners, which leads to more xenophobia. The AfD has developed an AI software that generates rage bait posts on social media.

References

Other websites

• Official website
• Manifesto for Germany: The Political Programme for the Alternative for Germany. Archived 2022-03-27 at the Wayback Machine (2017, English translation).

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