“The voters want this party. That’s the seriousness of the situation”: The president of the Federal Agency for Civic Education warns against misjudging the AfD’s electoral successes.
The President of the Federal Agency for Civic Education, Thomas Krüger, has warned against dismissing the high approval ratings for the AfD as a protest or a typical East German phenomenon. “I warn against seeing the election of the AfD as a protest,” he told the editorial network Germany (RND). “The voters want this party. That’s the seriousness of the situation.” Certain positions have been established in parts of society that are unacceptable and incompatible with democratic principles. The AfD is “a successful radicalization collective,” said Krüger, with a view to the AfD’s high poll numbers and the election of an AfD politician to the district administrator of the Thuringian district of Sonneberg.
In Krüger’s estimation, behind the label “typically East German” lies “the attempt by non-East Germans to explain the phenomenon”.
Last weekend, the AfD candidate Robert Stuhlmann was elected Germany’s first AfD district administrator in the Sonneberg district, which caused horror among many politicians from other parties. The Thuringian AfD is classified and observed by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a secured right-wing extremist.
Source: Stern
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