The AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) policies

The AfD, a far-right, populist party founded in 2013, just notched its best-ever national result, pulling in about 19.5-20.5% of the vote according to exit polls and early projections. That’s roughly double their 10.3% from 2021 and a big leap from their 12.6% peak in 2017 when they first entered the Bundestag. They’re now the second-largest party behind the CDU/CSU (28-29%), outpacing the SPD (16%), Greens (12%), and others. This surge comes after strong showings in 2024 state elections—like winning Thuringia (32.8%) and nearly taking Saxony—cementing their grip, especially in eastern Germany where economic discontent and anti-immigrant sentiment run deep.

Who They Are ?

Originally an anti-euro outfit led by economists like Bernd Lucke, the AfD pivoted hard after the 2015 refugee crisis under Angela Merkel, when over a million migrants entered Germany. Now, under co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, it’s all about “remigration”—mass deportation of immigrants, legal or not—and rejecting multiculturalism. They oppose EU integration (wanting the Deutsche Mark back), climate policies (calling them “ideologically driven”), and aid to Ukraine (favoring closer ties with Russia). Their base? Disillusioned voters—often less educated, male, and eastern—fed up with stagnant wages, housing shortages, and mainstream parties.

Key Facts About the AfD:

Founded: 2013

Political Position: Far-right, nationalist, populist

Core Policies:

Immigration and “Remigration”

The AfD’s flagship issue is immigration, where they push an aggressive “remigration” agenda:

• Mass Deportation: They want to deport millions—legal residents included—starting with asylum seekers whose claims are rejected, criminals with migrant backgrounds, and even German citizens of foreign descent who they claim don’t “integrate.” They estimate over 1 million deportations in their first year if in power.

• Border Control: Close national borders, exit the EU’s Schengen Area, and reject the Dublin Regulation on asylum. They propose physical barriers and militarized border patrols.

• Citizenship: End dual citizenship and birthright citizenship (jus soli), tying nationality to “German ancestry” or strict cultural assimilation. Naturalization would require a 10-year wait and loyalty oaths.

• Anti-Islam Stance: Ban burqas, minarets, and foreign funding of mosques, framing Islam as incompatible with German values.

Economy and Welfare

The AfD pitches itself as pro-worker but anti-elite, with a nationalist twist:

• Tax and Spending: Slash taxes for “native” Germans (e.g., income tax to a flat 20%) while cutting welfare for non-citizens. They’d scrap climate subsidies and foreign aid.

• Anti-EU: Exit the eurozone, bring back the Deutsche Mark, and renegotiate or ditch EU trade deals to “protect German jobs.” They blame EU bureaucracy for economic stagnation.

• Pensions and Housing: Boost pensions for long-term German contributors and prioritize housing for citizens over refugees or migrants.

Climate and Energy

They’re climate skeptics, rejecting mainstream green policies:

• No Net-Zero: Scrap Germany’s 2045 carbon-neutral goal, calling it a “climate dictatorship.” They’d end renewable energy subsidies and phase out wind farms, citing landscape ruin and cost.

• Fossil Fuels: Push coal and gas as “reliable,” opposing the nuclear exit (though they’re lukewarm on new reactors). They frame energy prices as a sovereignty issue, not a climate one.

Foreign Policy and Defense

The AfD leans isolationist and pro-Russia:

• Ukraine and NATO: Stop all aid to Ukraine—military and financial—and exit NATO’s command structure, though not the alliance itself. They favor lifting sanctions on Russia to resume cheap gas imports.

• National Army: Boost the Bundeswehr for “self-defense,” not “foreign wars,” and reinstate conscription for German men only.

• Anti-US: Criticize American influence, from military bases to cultural “wokeism,” advocating a “sovereign” Germany.

Social Issues and Culture

Their social agenda is traditionalist and anti-progressive:

• Family and Gender: Promote “traditional families” (one man, one woman, kids) with tax breaks. They’d ban gender studies in schools, reverse trans rights laws, and limit abortions further.

• Education: Purge “left-wing indoctrination” from curricula—think multiculturalism or climate activism—and emphasize German history and language.

• Media: Defund public broadcasters like ARD and ZDF, calling them “state propaganda,” and crack down on “cancel culture.”

Law and Order

The AfD plays hard on crime, linking it to migration:

• Tougher Sentences: Longer prison terms, especially for migrant offenders, and expanded police powers. They’d legalize more civilian self-defense tools.

• Surveillance: Boost domestic intelligence to monitor “extremists”—ironic given their own “suspected extremist” label from Germany’s Verfassungsschutz.

Context and Impact

These policies fueled their election surge, tapping into eastern German frustration and fears over crime and economic decline. Leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla doubled down post-victory, with Weidel calling for a “fortress Germany.” But their extremism—exposed by a 2023 meeting with neo-Nazis plotting mass expulsions—keeps them isolated. The CDU/CSU, SPD, and Greens uphold a “firewall,” ensuring the AfD won’t govern despite its 20% haul. Still, they’ve shifted the Overton window—mainstream parties now sound tougher on migration and less gung-ho on climate.

Electoral Success:

• Gained significant support after the 2015 refugee crisis.

• First entered the Bundestag (German federal parliament) in 2017.

• Stronger in Eastern Germany, where it is sometimes the largest party in regional elections.

• Considered a "pariah" by mainstream parties, which refuse to cooperate with it.

Why They’re Controversial ?

Germany’s domestic intelligence labels the AfD a “suspected extremist” group, with its youth wing and eastern branches like Thuringia’s Björn Höcke (fined for Nazi slogans) pegged as outright extremist. A 2023 secret meeting with neo-Nazis discussing mass deportations sparked outrage and protests—over a million marched against them in early 2024. Their rhetoric, like pushing blood-based citizenship and trashing “woke” academia, keeps them radioactive to the mainstream, especially given Germany’s Nazi past.

What’s Next?

With 20% nationally—not far behind the CDU/CSU’s lukewarm win—the AfD’s influence is undeniable. They’ve dragged the debate rightward; even Merz adopted tougher asylum talk. But coalition math shuts them out for now. Merz will likely team up with the SPD or Greens, maybe both, sidelining AfD’s agenda. Still, their rise signals trouble for Germany’s centrist consensus. If economic woes or migration fears worsen, that firewall might not hold forever—especially with younger voters (18-24) in the east warming to them.