Alternative for Germany
Alternative for Germany (German: Alternative für Deutschland, Afd), are a ‘fast-growing’ Eurosceptic party[1] founded in 2013 and represented in three eastern state parliaments.[2]
According to The Independent, one AfD leader, Alexander Gauland, declared the party ‘the natural allies' of the anti-Islam PEGIDA (Patriot Eruropean Against Islamisation of the West) movement and said he would attend a demonstration in December 2014[1]
AfD leader Bernd Lucke also backed the PEGIDA demonstrations. According to the Daily Telegraph, he called it 'good and right' that people were expressing their fears and wrote that the movement was 'a sign that these people do not feel their concerns are understood by politicians', while many other German politicians have condemned it.[3]
But the party's deputy leader, Hans-Olaf Henkel, reportedly called on party members not to join the demonstrators, saying there could be 'xenophobic or even racist connotations'.[3] Other sources also suggest that AfD had 'faced internal division' after some but not all of its members backed PEGIDA.[4] An Economist straw poll found that support was strong in the other direction: the magazine suggested 9 out of 10 supporters of PEGIDA would back AfD.[2]
Affiliations
Resources
- Philipp Wittrock, The Know-It-All Party: Anti-Euro 'Alternative for Germany' Launches, Spiegel Online International, 12 April 2013,
- Harriet Alexander, and Jeevan Vasagar, Bernd Lucke interview: 'Why Germany has had enough of the euro', The Telegraph, 7 April 2013</ref>
- Nicholas Kulish and Melissa Eddy, German Elites Drawn to Anti-Euro Party, Spelling Trouble for Merkel, New York Times, 14 April 2013.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Adam Withnall, Germany sees 'visible rise' in support for far-right extremism in response to perceived 'Islamisation' of the West, The Independent, 15 December 2014, accessed 5 Jan 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gone boy on the right, 24 January 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Justin Huggler, German Eurosceptics embrace anti-Islam protests, Daily Telegraph, 10 December 2014
- ↑ PEGIDA leader Kathrin Oertel resigns one week after founder quits, CBC/Reuters, 28 January, accessed 2 February
