It was a foggy day in November. Hundreds of police officers gathered in a large congress hall in the city of Wiesbaden fell silent. The fall conference of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) was convened to discuss the domestic security situation: drone strikes, hybrid warfare and digital disinformation campaigns.
On stage was Elena Beukes, a medical ethicist who for many years chaired the German Ethics Council, which advises politicians and civil society on fundamental questions: When does life begin? What are the arguments for and against mandatory vaccination? Where are the ethical boundaries of research?
She was discussing democracy in Germany at the BKA conference.
“At dinners with perfectly normal colleagues and friends who love their country, I often hear them say after the second glass of wine that they are considering whether they should leave the country,” Buyckx said.
“Must leave,” meaning they don’t want to go. BuyEx did not name the specific threat. But every police officer in the room knows who she’s talking about: the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
‘The friendly face of National Socialism’
The AfD has been growing for years. It has become the strongest force in East Germany. The party is also increasingly becoming openly extremist. AfD officials chant Nazi slogans, pose with their hands over their hearts in front of Adolf Hitler’s bunker, wear clothes from the mail-order catalog of Germany’s largest neo-Nazi organization, and call themselves the “friendly face of National Socialism.” These are not mere allegations – these incidents are self-publicized.
AfD politicians are openly opposing the fundamental values of the German constitution: namely, that no one can be discriminated against on the basis of their origin, religion, culture or race. There is a growing number of court decisions that confirm the unconstitutional nature of AfD factions. And security officials are gathering increasing evidence of the AfD’s aggressive fight against basic democratic values.
Is Germany no longer safe for everyone? Or will it soon no longer be safe if the AfD comes to power? Education Minister Karin Prien, of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), announced in October that she would leave Germany if the AfD ever became part of the federal government. Prien’s Jewish great-grandmother was murdered by the Nazis.
Such power in government at the federal level is still not within the AfD’s reach. But the situation is different in different states.
AfD aims to transform the state of Saxony-Anhalt
Four states will hold elections in 2026: two in eastern Germany, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and two in western Germany, Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. In the East German states, the AfD is by far the strongest party and aims to take power.
Its goal is not alliance with other parties, but overall control.
Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, leader of the AfD’s deputy parliamentary group in Saxony-Anhalt, said in a written response to DW. He and his party have clear ideas about what they want to do with political power.
Tilschneider says that democracy promotion projects are “education programs” and will no longer receive funding. He would like to end the “Schools Without Racism” project and end public broadcasting in its current form. Tillschneider and the AfD are focusing on nationalism: “Being German must once again generate positive feelings,” he wrote to DW. He is fighting against everything he does not consider “German”. For example, he considers pop songs to be “meaningless, devoid of tradition, international.”
Tilschneider draws inspiration from US President Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Above all, the AfD wants one thing: to deport people from Germany. Tillschneider is calling for a “deportation offensive” as a “first political measure” in the event of an AfD government. Within the party, this demand is referred to as “emigration of millions of people”.
But, since there are millions of people in Germany who are not legally obliged to leave the country, the question arises: Who exactly does the AfD want to deport?
“I think an AfD in government will make its radicalism more established and professional,” Matthias Quent of the Institute for Democratic Culture at Magdeburg-Stendal University told DW. “Especially in Saxony-Anhalt, which has one of the most far-right branches of the state. There are no forces there that want a different path.”
Quent hopes that, if the AfD comes into government, it will try to install its extremist supporters in the civil service. Quent said, “It will then become clear whether a flexible democracy can still function when the government includes at least some far-right participation.”
The question of the resilience of democracy also worries Germany’s security services. The Saxony-Anhalt branch of the AfD is considered “definitely right-wing extremist” and a threat by that state’s security authorities. An AfD-led government will be responsible for tackling extremism.
But this will not only have an impact on the small state of East Germany: Saxony-Anhalt’s AfD government will also be represented on all national committees for police and intelligence functions and on passing federal laws, as well as in the Federal Council.
German officials are now discussing how they need to change their organizational and established practices to prepare for possible extremist attacks from within.
In Germany, the judiciary – the theoretical guarantor of normative values in a functioning democracy – also appears vulnerable. The justice system is often criticized by AfD members and factions. In the state of Thuringia, the party has already used its political power to block the appointment of new judges to key positions.
David Begrich of the association Mitteinander (Together) in Saxony-Anhalt told DW that success in state elections in Germany in 2026 would be an important step forward for the AfD. The organization advocates a democratic and cosmopolitan Germany. Begrich said, “It is very clear that the party sees the East German states as a political laboratory to test how far it can go in challenging democratic culture.” The goal, he said, is to challenge the federal government.
The fundamental democratic consensus still exists
The AfD also benefits from the continued strain on German society caused by the coronavirus pandemic, economic challenges and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, among other issues. “We are experiencing an ever-increasing frequency of crises, and this creates a sense of insecurity that extends far beyond the main sphere of political action available to ruling parties,” Begrich said. He said politicians should pay attention to serious concerns such as people’s experiences of powerlessness in the past few years.
Begrich said a fundamental democratic consensus still prevails in Germany. “In my consulting work, my experience is that people are really willing to reach out to each other and work together for the common good,” she said, “and this transcends differences in their everyday lives.”
Theresa Donner shares this view. She is a dedicated bookseller and citizen of the eastern city of Halle an der Saale in Saxony-Anhalt. They also fear an AfD victory in state elections. In polarized and heated times, there needs to be more opportunities for common ground and exchange, beyond political camps, Donner said. “For example, we could organize a crime story reading again,”
He said. “Such events used to be the classic local pub gathering. The AfD has been very good at filling the void in rural areas where everything seems to have fallen apart.”
Donner urged his fellow Germans to take action rather than assign these shortcomings to the far right.
This article was originally written in German.
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