German intel: AfD taken over by extremist factions – DW – 07/31/2023
www.dw.com
The far-right Alternative for Germany party has become increasingly influenced by extremist conspiracy theorists, according to the head of German domestic intelligence.

cross-posted from: https://mlem.a-smol-cat.fr/post/77878

The far-right Alternative for Germany party has become increasingly influenced by extremist conspiracy theorists, according to the head of German domestic intelligence.

      • tal
        11•1 year ago

        My understanding is that they used to be driven by people with primarily economic issues with the euro, some economists. I don’t think that that’s really what I’d call extremism.

        googles

        Here:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_for_Germany?wprov=sfla1

        AfD was founded by Gauland, Bernd Lucke, and former members of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) to oppose the policies of the Eurozone as a right-wing and moderately Eurosceptic alternative to the centre-right but pro-European CDU. The party presented itself as an economic liberal, soft Eurosceptic, and conservative movement in its early years. AfD has subsequently moved further to the right, and expanded its policies under successive leaderships to include opposition to immigration, Islam, and the European Union. Since 2015, AfD’s ideology has been characterised by Islamophobia, anti-immigration, German nationalism, national-conservative, and Euroscepticism.

        Yeah, WP doesn’t describe the euro issue, but does talk about the shift.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernd_Lucke

        Bernd Lucke (born 19 August 1962) is a German economist and politician. Lucke was elected a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in 2014.

        Lucke lost the leadership of the AfD to Frauke Petry in July 2015. Petry’s election was considered a shift of the party to extremist positions; Lucke subsequently left the party. In July 2015 he and other former AfD members founded the political party Liberal-Konservative Reformer (formerly Allianz für Fortschritt und Aufbruch, “Alliance for progress and renewal”, abbreviated ALFA).

        Also, that shot of Lucke reminds me of the MAD kid, Alfred E. Newman:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernd_Lucke#/media/File%3ABernd_Lucke_(2014).jpg

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Neuman

    • @avater@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5•1 year ago

      got the image wrong…too early…will strike through thenteyt as soon as I’m at my laptop!

      Germany is not runned by Nazis nor are we supporting this change in our country! We are and we will actively fight this change, I can you promise that…

  • @avater@lemmy.worldEnglish
    46•1 year ago

    Funny thing is that the AFD has been labeled as a “suspected” extremist group by our intelligence service and are still allowed to be active… Sometimes I don’t understand how my own country works…

    • @lichtmetzger@feddit.deEnglish
      11•1 year ago

      True. When Bernd Lucke left the party in 2015 the reasons he stated for doing so were the islamophobic and racist ideology..

      That was only two years after the party was founded. I believe him having different intentions for the party, but their members must’ve always been full of far-right extremists.

      • tryptaminev 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺English
        6•1 year ago

        And Luckes new found irrelevant party is also not exactly hesitant on these issues. Their are also fiercly against abortion, LGBT rights, islamophobic and against migration, all with strong neoliberalism.

        So it is like a red-pill incel telling someone he is going too far with sexism.

    • @gonzo0815@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      8•1 year ago

      Yeah really. I hate this wording. As if the afd is an innocent victim that had honourable goals, but got taken over by fascists from outside.

      Radical nationalist ideology has always been embedded deeply in its core.

  • kjr
    11•1 year ago

    @BlackRose I am wondering whether the increase of the AfD together with the actual momentum of extreme right wing parties in other countries can jeopardize the estability of European institutions after the next European elections.