In the European election campaign, the Free Voters attach importance to not being pushed into the right-wing corner. But demarcation from the AfD alone is not enough for them.
At their federal party conference for the European elections, the Free Voters distanced themselves from political extremism. 92 percent of the more than 440 members in Bitburg approved a motion that forbids cooperation with the Alternative for Germany. A supplementary motion was unanimously approved, which is intended to exclude cooperation with extreme political forces on the left and right spectrum.
Federal Chairman Hubert Aiwanger explained that this had been the practice of the Free Voters for years. According to a statement, Bavaria’s economics minister said: “The clear demarcation against the AfD formulated in the application has been our line for years, for example we do not accept former members from there.”
According to a party spokesman, the federal executive board made an incompatibility decision after the 2021 federal election. The demarcation of membership will now be placed on a “broader basis”.
Adoption of the European election program
The members also came to Bitburg to discuss and approve the European election program. The Free Voters are calling, among other things, for a common European border protection unit that must be “able” to monitor the entire EU external border. Asylum procedures should take place “primarily at the EU’s external borders within days”.
Applicants must be accommodated “in decent housing developments near the EU’s external borders”. The party also advocates a “purification” of agricultural law.
Finally, the parliamentary group leader of the Free Voters in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament, Joachim Streit, was elected as one of the five deputies of Federal Chairman Aiwanger. Streit received 95 percent approval from voting members.
Source: Stern
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