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This week, the extreme far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 43.8% of the vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. Now, Germany’s far-right appears more powerful than at any point since World War II. |
The AfD’s 258-page manifesto promises to deport immigrants (including naturalized German citizens), withhold benefits and legal recognition from LGBTQ families, and downplay the horrors of the Holocaust. |
“Some of what is happening in German politics is particular to this country, not least the long-held resentment among many eastern Germans, whether real or perceived, at having been treated as second-class citizens since reunification in 1990,” writes John Kampfner for TIME’s Weekend Essay. “But much of it belongs to a broader far-right insurgency across Europe, the United States, and beyond.” |
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IN TODAY’S BRIEF |
Germany’s far-right turn A ballroom investigation Linked
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WEEKEND ESSAY |
The dark promise of making Germany great again |
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Co-Chairwoman of the Bundestag AFD faction Alice Weidel, Ulrich Siegmund, lead candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Co-Chairman of the Bundestag AFD faction Tino Chrupalla. Omer Messinger/Getty Images |
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“Everything is Possible,” declares the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the far-right party sending shockwaves across Germany and farther afield, after winning 43.8% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, a state of around two million people in the eastern part of the country. Like other populist movements that have dominated politics over the last decade, the AfD has not hidden its light under a bushel. It’s all there in black and white. |
At the start of its election campaign in Saxony Anhalt, the AfD published a 258-page manifesto bearing its motto: “Das Land Zuerst,” or “The Country First.” The manifesto promises large scale deportations of immigrants, including naturalized German citizens, under its remigration program, particularly targeting those who do not look or sound “German.” It seeks to change the history curriculum in schools to teach “more Bismarck and less Hitler,” emphasizing imperial achievements and national power while diminishing Germany’s postwar culture of remembrance and attention paid to Nazism and the Holocaust. |
The manifesto promises to support “normal” heterosexual families and conventional households while withholding benefits and legal recognition from LGBTQ families and others it considers “deviant.” It aggressively opposes German military aid to Ukraine and insists that restoring friendly relations with Russia would provide cheaper access to energy and lower prices for Germans. The far right party’s manifesto is worth reading in full. It is no wonder that Germany’s domestic intelligence agency classified the AfD chapters in Saxony Anhalt and a neighboring state as right-wing extremist. Yet it is worth admitting that a large number of Germans are finding this vision enticing. |
The AfD’s sweeping, simplistic promises offer a beguiling contrast with the gray incrementalism of politics as practiced by a succession of coalition governments in Berlin—a politics of hard truths and achingly slow progress, when there is any progress at all. Why vote for parties synonymous with budget cuts to balance the books, job losses amid fierce competition from China, and billions spent on rearmament when you can return to the secure world of yesteryear? |
John Kampfner is the author of Why The Germans Do It Better and Braver New World. |
Read the full essay here… |
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A MINUTE OF YOUR TIME |
Trump’s ballroom could face investigations |
If Democrats win the House this November, a little-known congressional committee could become a major force in investigating the Trump administration.
The House Natural Resources Committee oversees federal lands, including national parks and federally controlled land in Washington, D.C. That gives it jurisdiction over some of the administration’s most closely watched projects, including Trump’s proposed White House ballroom, the planned 250-foot triumphal arch and the troubled repairs to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
TIME reporter Nik Popli spoke with Rep. Jared Huffman, the committee’s top Democrat, about the investigations he could pursue if Democrats take control of the House. |
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