Election meeting in Magdeburg
“We want the Dexit” – AfD applicants for Europe propagate a radical departure from the EU
A delegate at the last federal party conference of the AfD in Magdeburg. This weekend, the party’s European election meeting will take place at the same location
© IMAGO/Sven Simon
The AfD is happy about its poll high. At her marathon election meeting in Magdeburg she is looking for 30 candidates for the EU Parliament. But the European Union has few friends in the party.
When selecting the AfD candidates for the 2024 European elections, many applicants have radically turned their backs on the European Union and a barrier against migration demanded. The right-wing party tried on Saturday in Magdeburg to allocate further places on the list. By the afternoon, however, this was only possible with one place. The other applicants initially lacked the necessary majorities. So initially only 21 of 30 candidates were determined. After the candidates have been selected, the European election program will be discussed.
A draft published in June sets the goal of an “orderly dissolution of the EU” and the establishment of a “new European economic community and community of interests”. Some AfD representatives are calling for Germany to leave the EU, the so-called Dexit. Party leader Tino Chrupalla said work was underway on a new draft that could serve as a “compromise.” According to information from party circles, the draft from June should be defused.
In the rounds of introductions, however, both the dissolution of the EU and Dexit found support. “Let’s end the EU together,” said applicant Thomas Schmidt. Competitor Peter Ditges said: “I want to compete to end this farce in Brussels.” Competitor Elisabeth Becker emphasized: “We want to have the Dexit.” Her party colleague Jurij Christopher Kofner said he was “declaring war on the woken ideology” by peaceful means. “We have to reclaim our homeland.” Germany is a country “occupied” by the US and the EU.
According to Weidel, AfD has not moved further to the right
The party, classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a suspected right-wing extremist, had already started nominating candidates last weekend. The top candidate was MEP Maximilian Krah, who is also not without controversy internally.
However, party leader Alice Weidel rejected the interpretation on the “Welt” station that the AfD had moved further to the right. “Mr. Krah is a candidate that the various camps and currents of this party have agreed on beforehand,” said Weidel. The two-thirds of the delegate votes achieved by Krah are a “very, very solid result”.
Weidel also commented on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and said: “Basically, we think the debate about who is to blame for the Ukraine war is far too short.” The Ukraine war has a history that is being hidden, she said, referring to NATO.
However, Weidel opposed leaving NATO, as some AfD politicians are debating. “You can only reform a structure from within,” said Weidel. The European pillar of the alliance must be strengthened because the US has other security interests.
timeline
From opponents of the euro to the case for the protection of the constitution: How the AfD has become more and more radical for years
The protection of the constitution is not allowed to make critical comments during the AfD event
According to the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, some “right-wing extremist conspiracy theories” were spread last weekend. The AfD defended itself against Haldenwang’s statements with an urgent application before the Cologne Administrative Court. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution undertook in a “standstill agreement” to refrain from making critical statements this weekend.
The federal government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, was concerned about the AfD’s poll high. “The AfD tolerates anti-Semitism and leading forces that put the Holocaust into perspective; they want to make Jewish life more difficult with proposals to ban kosher slaughter,” Klein told the “Welt am Sonntag”. The AfD is a legal party that takes part in democratic competition. “Nevertheless, there are signs that anti-democratic forces are at work there.”