BERLIN (Reuters) – Far-right extremism poses the biggest threat to German democracy and voters should bear this in mind before casting their ballot for the nationalist, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, the country’s domestic spy agency said on Tuesday.
The AfD is currently polling at 18-20% nationwide and is on track to win three state votes in eastern Germany with calls to stop migration and curb what it sees as a costly green agenda.
Far-right parties have gained ground across Europe but the rise of the AfD touches a particularly sensitive nerve in Germany because of the country’s Nazi past.
“… parts of the AfD spread hate and agitation against all kinds of minorities in Germany, especially migrants… We see that parts of the AfD also hold and promote an anti-Semitic attitude,” the spy agency’s chief, Thomas Haldenwang, told a news conference in which he presented its 2022 annual report.
The AfD did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
“We see that parts of the AfD are very much influenced by Moscow and continue to spread Russian narratives”, particularly with regards to the war in Ukraine, Haldenwang added.
“I think these are all circumstances that German voters should bear in mind when making their decision,” he said.
The AfD opposes economic sanctions against Moscow, in contrast to mainstream German parties including Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing Social Democrats who strongly support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invading forces.
The report said the number of people potentially involved in far-right activity in Germany rose by 14.5% to 38,800 in 2022, while the number of far-right activists prepared to use violence rose to 14,000 from 13,500.
According to research published by INSA this week, the AfD is polling at 20% at the national level, on a par with the SPD but behind the centre-right CDU at 26.5%.
(Reporting by Alexander Ratz, Writing by Anna Mackenzie, Editing by Friederike Heine and Gareth Jones)
