Where does the success of the AfD come from?

The Alternative for Germany, AfD, is considered the winner of the recent parliamentary elections in Germany. The party has more than doubled its votes to 20.8%, achieving 152 seats in the 630-member-parliament and becoming the main opposition party.

We asked Krunoslav Stojakovic, expert at the German Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation, for its reasons. The interview was conducted just before the elections.

The AfD is achieving more and mor support in polls. How do you explain this?

It is primarily due to the fact that their main issue, which is migration, or the rejection of any kind of migration, has become the main issue not only now in the election campaign, but basically since 2016 or 2017 in public debate. Social issues, economic issues play almost no role anymore. The background of certain problem developments here in Germany, in society, is also not dealt with at all. Instead, topics set by the AfD, anti-migrant topics are constantly communicated and discussed in the public and the media.

Even now, in the election campaign, there were one or two acts of violence committed by people with a migration background, but from very different political backgrounds.

One person conducted an attack in Magdeburg. He had been radicalized by right-wing propaganda channels. He was born, I think, in Iraq or Iran, but he was a very explicit, aggressively anti-Muslim person and basically radicalized himself politically in a wide variety of portals, including those generated by the AfD. So, he was a right-wing radical with a migrant background. He also has already been in trials, thus known as potentially violent. But nothing was done.

Media uses attacks

And when the attack occurred, the radical right made use of it and placed its topics onto the agenda. From then on, migration was a main and continuous topic in the election campaign.

Then another attack occurred, where a psychologically ill person from Afghanistan, also known to the police, killed a young girl. That sharpened the discourse even in the political center. Every candidate for chancellor placed migration on top of his or her agenda.

The current chancellor candidate and most likely also new chancellor Friedrich Merz of the conservative CDU introduced this topic into the election campaign debate and then pushed through a so-called motion for a resolution in the Bundestag with the AfD, which now has no political weight, but at least politically has already indicated that on certain issues the conservative CDU, unlike before, seems to be quite willing to form a coalition with the right-wing extremist AfD.

After this vote in the Bundestag with the AfD, there was a real protest wave against this cooperation. Even in the electorate of the CDU and CSU, up to the conservative electorate, there was a protest, also a political protest, with hundreds of thousands of participants in all cities, here in Germany not only in the big cities, against this cooperation with the AfD. But this was not once a topic in one of these broadcasts. And since this discrepancy in the media’s perception of what is happening in society and which issues are relevant, has contributed to the mainstream media reflecting the establishment to a certain extent.

Hence, the success of the AfD has been produced to a large extent by the media, because they put these topics in primetime and always talked about them. Conservative politicians also followed suit.

Is the AfD anti-establishment?

In addition, beyond the migration issue, the AfD presents itself a bit as an anti-establishment party. What is it, what is to be thought of it?

Yes, this is such an ongoing issue with right-wing populist parties, which presents themselves as anti-establishment, but are quite interwoven with the political establishment. This actually means that they are very pro-establishment in their political program.

Their opponents have now tried to attack the AfD on its social and economic policy issues and programs and to show, ‘look, if you vote for the AfD, then you are actually voting for a fascist version of the neoliberal FDP’.

And among most people in the poorer areas, for example in East Germany, but it’s not only in East Germany, it’s also in West Germany, the AfD is represented and very strongly and stronger day by day. Especially in socially precarious neighborhoods, the AfD generates great approval. And that with a program that is exactly contrary to the interests of these people.

On top of that, the AfD is now the party with the highest party donations. From very wealthy, sometimes dubious donors, the AfD has received over 6 million euros in donations as part of the current election campaign. This is significantly more than the 2.4 million the CDU-CSU has achieved, usually the leading party as it is a very influential party, with many opportunities to lobby.

And you can always see that before elections, that certain companies, certain business associations, the so-called family entrepreneurs here in the Federal Republic, are increasingly donating to parties that they very much hope will make politics in their interest. And the AfD has now replaced the CDU, in the amount of the wave of donations.

Is the AfD a peace party?

The AfD is also not a peace party. Concerning the federal army, the AfD is campaigning for an increase in Germany’s contribution to military spending. Since Trump became US president, there has been an announcement that European countries must increase their contribution to NATO. This is being discussed, controversially discussed. You already had this 3.5 percent in the past and that was problematic. The AfD had no problem at all to say ‘Yes’ to 5 percent. And at the same time, the AfD is committed to militarization at home. Also, with regard to the control of the external borders.

The peace issue for the AfD is only a one-sided one towards Russia to end the war with Ukraine. The party is committed to ending the war as quickly as possible, because the AfD says that Germany cannot survive in terms of energy policy if it does not obtain cheap gas and oil from Russia. And that is the real reason for their appeal for peace.

At the same time, the AfD is a party that completely rejects any discussion of alternative energy sources. Their only idea of what an alternative energy source could be is new nuclear power plants.

The AfD chooses a group in society that has almost no lobby and passes the buck to it for all other problems of society. The fact that there is a breeding ground for this at all is a problem of the growing social divide in the country.

On the one hand, every statistic shows it, there’s a handful of people are getting richer and richer. The three richest Germans have as much wealth as 50 percent of the total population. These are proportions that have never been seen before in Germany, and that in a country that once carried a bit of pride in front of it, this special social market economy moment. And on the other hand, a low-wage sector that is the highest in all of Europe. The recipients of citizen’s money, i.e. those who cannot work for very different reasons, are attacked here, along with the refugee and the migrants, as those who are responsible for the economic and social problems in the country.

The program is basically identical to that of the liberal FDP: Deregulation and deregulation. No debts may be incurred. Reduction of government spending. But in Germany we have already had a permanent deregulation in the last 15 or 20 years, a permanent privatization of otherwise social services. And that has led to the fact that the breeding ground for a party like the AfD has become bigger and bigger, or the possibility of political articulation and support for the AfD has become bigger and bigger, not smaller.