(de-news.net) – Federal Defense Minister Pistorius (SPD), who is leading popularity surveys, has spoken out in the discussion about the AfD at this weekend. At a demonstration against right-wing extremism in Osnabrück, he told around 25,000 citizens that the AfD wanted a system change back to the dark times of discrimination and injustice.
Also at the weekend, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) said according to media reports that millions of mass deportations, as recently discussed by a group of AfD officials, are “a danger for our country.” The AfD risks destroying the German economy, which is largely supported by people with a migration background: in 2022, around twelve million of around 45 million employees had ancestors from abroad. “Without them, Germany would be completely lost.” It’s about Germany as an economic location.
Leading economists also spoke out in the media, criticizing the AfD’s concepts such as isolationism and an exit from the EU as populist, “absurd and dangerous”. The AfD risks destroying German competitive advantages, they said. A comeback of the German mark would mean a weakening of the economy and possibly bring about an international financial crisis, said economist Lars Feld. According to federal economic counsel Martin Werding, the AfD has no solution for the financing issues surrounding pensions, for instance.
Most recently, leading politicians from the parties within the traffic light coalition called for state subsidies to be withdrawn from the AfD. On the other hand, it was said that banning a party would be costly and difficult because the AfD could assume the role of alleged victim before the Federal Constitutional Court. Hence the importance to weigh things up carefully. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) recently described the AfD as unconstitutional. In contrast, CDU chairman Friedrich Merz emphasized that AfD voters should not be condemned across the board, but should be won back.