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Buoyed by record polls, the German far right rolled out the radical proposals of its “future plan” for the country on Saturday. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to denounce this project, six weeks before the legislative elections.
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January 11, 2025 – 4:02 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) “The anger of the established (parties) is increasing day by day. And why? Because we are successful,” said the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, at the opening of a congress in Riesa (east), a stronghold of the extreme party. RIGHT.
The AfD is in second position in the polls for the February 23 elections, gaining further ground according to a study published on Saturday. The party is credited with 22% of the vote, behind the conservatives of the CDU/CSU camp at around 30% but ahead of the social democrats (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz at around 16%.
“Let’s get past the CDU, this party of crooks, and play politics for Germany,” urged Alice Weidel, nominated by the party to win the German chancellery.
The Austrian example
The start of the year is promising for training in anti-migrant rhetoric and which advocates a rapprochement with Russia: it received strong support from Elon Musk, with whom Alice Weidel spoke for more than an hour this week during of a public exchange on the billionaire’s social network X.
The AfD is also relishing the breaking of the “cordon humaine” against the far right in Austria, where the leader of the nationalist and xenophobic FPÖ party has been entrusted with the responsibility of forming a government with the right.
“Solidary society”
As in Austria this week where rallies against the far right were held, thousands of demonstrators denounced the AfD’s projects in Riesa on Saturday. At least 8,000 people, according to the police, converged early in the morning towards the center of the Saxon city, located between Leipzig and Dresden, managing to disrupt access and delay the start of the congress.
Among the demonstrators gathered in the bitter cold, shouting “No to the Nazis”, Julia told AFP she had come to denounce a party synonymous with “exclusion, discriminatory behavior, hatred and agitation”.
“We want to show very clearly that we are the majority, that we are in favor of opening borders, of a united society, of a society of as many people as possible,” added this young girl in her twenties. ‘years.
Expel foreigners
Denouncing a “leftist and violent” crowd, “Nazis painted red”, Alice Weidel presented to the 600 party delegates her “future plan for Germany, which we will tackle during the first 100 days of our participation in government.
Both the German right and left have ruled out allying with the far right.
The AfD’s migration policy plans to “completely close the borders and push back all illegal immigrants and undocumented immigrants”, “leave the EU asylum system” and “carry out large-scale expulsions”.
“I must tell you very honestly that if it must be called remigration, then it will be called remigration,” insisted the 45-year-old MP, assuming this concept of mass expulsion of foreign people or people of foreign origin.
Exiting the EU
“We will signal the end of the energy turning point and the abandonment of the EU’s climate policy,” she said, listing a series of measures: maintaining coal-fired power stations, “demolishing” wind turbines, resuming purchases of Russian gas and relaunch of the Nordstream gas pipeline connected to Russia and partially damaged by an explosion after the invasion of Ukraine. The party’s roadmap also provides for an exit from the EU and the euro.
The AfD congress in Riesa is planned all weekend. The police reported incidents with groups of demonstrators trying to force roadblocks and six minor injuries among the police. The organizers denounced the use by the police of pepper spray and blows against groups of demonstrators.
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