AfD embraces mass deportation of migrants as German election nears

Germany’s right wing is interesting.

On Saturday, during their rally in the eastern town of Riesa, in Saxony, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) set out its ambitions to close Germany’s borders, resume buying Russian gas and leave the EU.

German media reported that the party’s agreed manifesto included plans to leave the Paris climate agreement, leave the euro and create a new international union.

The leader of the AfD, Alice Weidel, publicly accepted the word “migration” – a word that is known to mean the “return” or deportation of migrants.

Thousands of anti-AfD protesters took to the streets in Riesa on Saturday, seeking to block access to the conference venue.

When Alice Weidel took the stage, she described the activists as “the army of the left.”

And, in front of an enthusiastic hall of delegates, it spoke of “great recovery”.

“And I have to be honest with you: if it’s going to be called migration, then it will be: migration,” he said.

This was a dramatic departure from a year ago when he tried to distance himself from the scandal that was about the most controversial opinion.

There were international protests against the AfD after it emerged that party officials were among those present at a meeting where alleged “immigration” was discussed by Martin Sellner, an Austrian activist with Nazi affiliations.

Sellner wrote about the “immigration” of asylum seekers, other foreigners with the right to abode and “unaffiliated” citizens.

A buzzword in Europe’s far-right, some say legal residents should not be forced to leave. Critics say “deportation” is just a metaphor for a racist deportation program.

But Alice Weidel’s decision to make the money herself, just weeks after a contested election, shows her party’s growing confidence.

He also promised to tear down wind farms which he called “the winds of shame”, to leave the EU’s defense system and to “fire” professors of gender studies.

The AfD party continues to poll in Germany and has won the latest election in the eastern part of the country – where the party is strongest.

However, it is unlikely to win power because other parties do not work with the AfD.

AfD units were classified by domestic intelligence as extremists.

In 2024, the mascot of the far-right AfD – Björn Höcke – was fined twice for using the banned slogan of the Nazi SA, “Alles für Deutschland” (“everything for Germany”).

He calls it an “everyday sentence” and denies knowing where it came from, despite being a history teacher.

Reports that members of a rally in Riesa this week chanted “Alice für Deutschland” drew quick comparisons from German media.

However, AfD figures often complain that they are demonized and victimized by biased media and the establishment.

And Alice Weidel’s party – co-leader and chancellor candidate – has repeatedly stormed to over 20% in national elections.

The 45-year-old economist, who previously worked at Goldman Sachs and is in a same-sex relationship, wants to polish the edges of his party.

But for those who strongly oppose the AfD he is a fig leaf or – as the Social Democrat put it – “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”.

No matter what, he’s enjoying a new glow afterwards invited by tech billionaire – Elon Musk – to speak on his X platform last weekwhere he wholeheartedly accepted the party.

His announcement in the debate that Adolf Hitler was indeed a communist drew criticism, as the Nazi leader was a well-known anti-communist.

Opponents have warned of a renaissance of the Nazi party – something the AfD has been accused of in the past.

Björn Höcke once called for a “180-degree turn” in Germany’s handling of the Nazis while another former leader, Alexander Gauland, described the Nazi era as “a speck in the more than 1,000 years of German history.” .

However, the AfD’s anti-establishment, anti-immigration and anti-“woke” policy is finding supporters in Germany who go to the polls on 23 February.