Analele Universității Ovidius din Constanț a Seria Știin țe Politice [604715]

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Știin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
23 THE RISE OF A NEW POLITICAL ERA IN
GERMANY
Alicia-Georgiana ZALUPCA

Abstract: Germany, the most important and powerful member stat e of the
European Union, is currently Europe’s leader. In the summer of 2015, the
refugee crisis hit the European continent and German y, in particularly, had been
the most preferred destination by the refugees. In Au gust 2015, German
chancellor Angela Merkel from CDU (Christian Democr atic Union) had
addressed the German citizens, stating that: “We can do it!” (German “Wir
schaffen das!”) and had decided to offer support in Germa ny, to around one
million refugees from the Middle East and Africa. The decision had been
perceived as a good and humanitarian act by the citizens and public opinion. The
Germans had welcomed the refugees who were fleeing fr om the war, hunger,
and poverty in their own countries. A couple of mont hs later, Merkel had stated
again that “We can do it!”, but the reality had chang ed. The decision to receive
these refugees to Germany and the attempt to adapt the m to the German and
the European culture and civilization had failed. Thi s step that had been
undertaken by Merkel, had compelled the citizens to t urn their back to the old
traditional parties, such as CDU, SPD (Social Democr atic Party) and CSU
(Christian Social Union) and to change their politic al preferences to AfD
(Alternative for Germany). This article aims to exp lore the rise of this young
party in a political world dominated by the Christian and Social Democratic
parties for years, in Germany.
Keywords: AfD, Angela Merkel, Euroscepticism, Germany, Islami zation,
political parties, refugee crisis.
◊◊◊
Rezumat: Germania, cel mai important și mai puternic stat membru al Uniunii
Europene, este în momentul de fa ță liderul Europei. În vara anului 2015, criza
refugia ților a lovit întreaga Europ ă, iar Germania, în mod special, a fost cea mai
preferat ădestina ție de c ătre refugiați. În august 2015, cancelarul german Angela
Merkel –din partea partidului Uniunea Cre știn-Democrat ăa declarat în fa ța
cet ățenilor germani: „Vom reu și! ”(Germ. “Wir schaffen das! ”) și a decis s ă

PhD. Candidate in Communication Science, Faculty of Communication Science and
Public Relations at National School of Political Sc ience and Public Administration.
POSDRU Scholar: POSDRU/187/1.5/S/155589. E-mail: al [anonimizat].

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Știin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
24 sprijine aproximativ un milion de refugia ți veni ți din Orientul Mijlociu și Africa
în Germania. Decizia a fost perceput ăca un act bun și umanitar de c ătre cet ățeni
și opinia public ă. Germanii au primit refugia ții care fugeau din calea r ăzboiului,
foametei și s ărăciei din propriile țări. Câteva luni mai târziu, Merkel a declarat din
nou că „Vom reuș i! ”, dar realitatea se schimbase. Decizia de a primi ace ști
refugia ți în Germania și încercarea de a-i adapta la cultura și civiliza ția german ă și
european ăa e șuat. Acest pas întreprins de Merkel i-a determinat pe cet ățenii
germani să întoarcă spatele partidelor vechi tradiț ionale, cum ar fi CDU, SPD
(Partidul Social Democrat) și CSU (Uniunea Social-Cre știn ă) și s ăîși schimbe
preferin țele politice c ătre AfD (Alternativa pentru Germania). Acest artico l î și
propune să exploreze creș terea acestui partid tân ăr într-o lume politic ădominat ă
timp de mul ți ani de c ătre partidele cre știn și social democrate în Germania.
Cuvinte cheie: AfD, Angela Merkel, euroscepticism, Germania, islam izare,
partide politice, criza refugia ților.
I. The Euroscepticism Phenomenon in Germany
he European Union is currently facing a huge
transformation and redesign after the Brexit episode from
June 2016, the refugee crisis from 2015-2016, and the
international economic crisis / the Euro crisis from 2010. The g rowth of
the Euroscepticism phenomenon is a result of these events that have
occurred inside the European Union and that have affected all of Europe.
This aspect has led to the presence of Euroscepticism in all type s of
public speech and onto the public opinion’s agenda. The following
sections will focus on examining the Euroscepticism current in Ger many
and the rise of the young Eurosceptic political party, AfD, on the Ge rman
political scene as well as how this party has strengthened it s position in
the actual political, social and economic context of this country. T he
methodology that has been used is a qualitative one; respectively the case-
study provides a conceptualization of Euroscepticism and an analysi s of
the evolution of the German political party AfD and of its politica l
programme. T

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Știin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
25 I.1. The Concept of Euroscepticism
Germany has become a very fertile soil for the growth and
intensification of the Euroscepticism phenomenon after the country’s
Christian Democratic government decided to welcome the refugees from
the Middle East and Africa and to offer them a shelter and securi ty in
Germany. The Germans have been put in a very difficult situati on
because they were not ready to deal with this unexpected migration
process. Their voice has not been heard by the Christian Democrati c,
Christian Social and Social Democratic politicians who continued to m ake
decisions without taking into consideration the people’s opinion regarding
the presence of these refugees in Germany. Moreover, when the
economic crisis hit Europe in 2010, followed closely by the Euro c risis,
during which the Southern European economies had been seriously
damaged, German academic professors and business representatives had
criticized the governm ent’s position towards the management of the Euro
crisis and the support that Germany had given to Greece, Portugal , Spain,
and Ireland in order to overcome the financial problems of these
countries. A couple of years later, Germany faced another type of crisis –
the refugee crisis. Therefore, the civil society represente d by young and
educated people from the middle class has decided to turn their back s on
the traditional parties and to accept the challenge of a new futur e
dominated by a right-wing Eurosceptic party, AfD. AfD represents the
birth of the Eurosceptic current in Germany and has managed to win
regional and European Parliament elections without having the force of
CDU, SPD, and CSU. AfD campaigned exactly on what the people
wanted to hear. The party presented itself as a voice that stood up without
fear and made itself heard when it came to “the truth” and, more
importantly, had the courage to say “no” to the immigrants, to the
Islamization of Germany, and to the measures that can put the nati onal
economy and security in danger.
Euroscepticism is perceived as a social and political phenomenon
which has its roots in the Europeanization process of the European
Union, in the continuous process to acquire new member states and to
support them to adher e to the EU’s rules and regulations.

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Știin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
26 As the years passed by, the Bruges speech of UK’s former Prim e –
Minister Margaret Thatcher, from 1988, has crystallized more and more
into a vision about the European Union’s future. Thatcher anticipated
what was about to happen in Europe after 2010, when she stated clear ly
that: “The European Community is one manifestation of that European
identity, but it is not the only one. […] The European Community
belongs to all its members. It must reflect the traditions and aspirations of
all its members. […] Let Europe be a family of nations, underst anding
each other better, appreciating each other more, doing more together but
relishing our national identity no less than our common European
endeavour” 1.
This speech could be considered at the root of Euroscepticism in
the United Kingdom and also the fundamental basis for its expansion,
growth, and development in the other Member States.
The current picture of the European Union shows how
increasingly the right-wing and the Eurosceptic parties become mor e
powerful and more credible in front of the civil society. Meanw hile, the
traditional parties must reassess their speeches and adapt their electoral
campaigns and political decisions to the present situation. This is difficult
to achieve because a segment of the German citizenship is stil l very
conservative and not yet ready for a multicultural society. Ther efore the
European Union must understand that its own future as a federated
structure consists in allowing each Member State to make it s own
decisions, to keep its own culture and national identity. In orde r to move
smoothly on the path of the Europeanization process, the European
Union must specify what this process implies and which are the
advantages and disadvantages of supporting the poorer Member Stat es of
the Union or of accepting the refugees, according to the financial and
social situation of each country.
Nowadays, to be Eurosceptic does not only refer to the initial
meaning of the word: to be sceptic towards the existence and the future of
Euro –but it means to be sceptic towards the future of Europe as a
1Margaret Thatcher, “Speech to the College of Europe ( “The Bruges Speech ”)”, Bruges
Belfrey, Bruges, September 20, 1988, accessed Septe mber 21, 2016, http://www.margare
tthatcher.org/document/107332.

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Știin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
27 continent that is dealing with the danger of Islamization and losing its
own European identity.
Germany and Germans are not yet ready to accept the refugees
and migrants among them and to participate in the integration proces s of
these Muslims in the civil society. Chancellor Merkel has i ntroduced the
“Welcome” culture 2(German: “Willkommen” Kultur) and has made
arduous and continuous efforts to convince her people that the
acceptance of these migrants is good for the future of the country.
Germany, as well as other European countries, is having a decl ining birth
rate, the people who are able to work are getting older, and the rent
system will be under the stress of collapse since in the future, there will be
more renters than employees, while the German economy is growing and
expanding at an accelerated rate.
Presently, the Germans are struggling to keep and protect thei r
own culture, national identity, language, values, and civilizat ion intact.
They are not so open to Europeanization and are being very Eurosceptic .
Therefore, it is imperative to understand the current situation in Germany
and why these reactions against the migrants occur so that we ca n define
and classify the Euroscepticism phenomenon. The word itself refers to a
neutral or negative attitude towards Europe, and in our case tow ards the
European Union.
Paul Taggart identified Euroscepticism as representing a “ a
touchstone of dissent […] expresses the idea of contingent or qualified
opposition, as well as incorporating outright and unqualified opposition to
the process of European integration” for the entire Europe . Taggart also
admits that Euroscepticism can be perceived from three different
perspectives towards the European Union:
The first position is taken by those who are against the European
integration and opposed to the idea of the European integration,
and therefore they are against the European Union;
2***, “Studie zu Flüchtlingen Willkommenskultur in Deutsc hland nimmt ab”, Die Welt ,
July 7, 2016, accessed September 21, 2016, https:// www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/art
icle156885495/Willkommenskultur-in-Deutschland-nimm t-ab.html.

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Șt iin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
28 The second position is being taken by those who do not agree with
the European integration and believe that the European Union
cumulates to many interests and pressures;
The third position is being taken by those who consider that the
European Union is an exclusivist geographical and social place 3.
This being said, the Germans might be inclined to adopt the third
position, considering that Europe, Germany and other nations should not
be –in their opinion –the destination for the refugees so that Europe can
remain intact and mantain its own set of values and culture.
Kopecky and Mudde 4argued that “Euroscepticism is a term that
is being given to political parties and ideologies by mistake, be cause they
are all pro- Europe or against Europe”. Taking this point into account, the
two authors proposed a new approach to the “Euroscepticism” term from
the perspective of political parties. Thus, the following class ification
contains four types of ideal positions that the political parties c ould adopt
towards the European Union:
the Euroenthusiasts combine the Europhile ideological support for
the European integration process with the acceptance of the
European Union;
the Eurosceptics sustain the general idea of European integration,
but are being pessimistic towards the current one or the future
plans of the Union;
the Europragmatics do not support nor do they oppose the idea of
European integration. They accept the European Union as a
necessary element of the Member States cooperation and consider
it to be efficient for the economy of their country;
the Eurorejects mix the Europhobe position with the pessimism
towards the European Union and do not feel comfortable with
the idea of the integration in the European Union or with the
European Union’s status.
3Paul Taggart, A Touchstone of Dissent: Euroscepticism in Contempo rary Western European Party
Systems (Sussex: School of Social Sciences, University of S ussex, 1998).
4Petr Kopecky and Cas Mudde, “The Two Slides of Euroscepticism. Party Positions o n
European Integration in East Central Europe ”, European Union Politics 3, no. 3 (2002):
297-326 , referred to in: Alina Bârgăoanu and Elena Negrea, Comunicarea în Uniunea
Europeană: modele teoretice și aspecte practice (Bucharest: comunicare.ro, 2011).

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Șt iin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
29 The classification of Kopecky and Mudde is represented below:
Picture 1: Support for the European integration
Source: Petr Kopecky and Cas Mudde, “The Two Slides of Euroscepticism. P arty Positions on European
Integration in East Central Europe”, European Union Politics 3, no. 3 (2002): 297-326.
We tend to consider that Germany is a combination of all four
positions by taking into consideration the facts that are occurring on the
political scene and in the civil society. Furthermore, in order to frame t he
AfD party into a Euroscepticism classification, we return to Paul Tagg art
and Aleks Szczerbiak that had found two types of Euroscepticism: hard
and soft.
Hard Euroscepticism is when there is a principled opposition
to the EU and European integration and therefore can be seen in parties
that think that their countries should withdraw their membership, or
whose policies towards the EU are tantamount to being against the entire
European integration project, as it is currently conceived. There are two
available methods for assessing whether a party is “hard Eur osceptic”.
The first one regards whether we have a single issue anti-EU party. We
assume that a party would mobilize solely against the EU if it were
opposed to it on principle. The second method is to ask whether the

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Șt iin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
30 opposition to the EU is framed in a language that stresses how the EU is
too capitalist / socialist / neo-liberal / bureaucratic, depending on the
chosen ideological position (communist / conservative /socialist /
populist) and calls for a fundamental revision of the terms on which their
country is an EU member. They regard their countries membership as
being incompatible with the present trajectory of the European project.
This is sometimes expressed as conditional support for EU membership
based on conditions so unattainable that it is tantamount to being de facto
opposed to EU membership.
Soft Euroscepticism means there is NO principled objection
to European integration or EU membership. Instead, the party expresses
concerns regarding one or more policy areas that advance a position of
qualified opposition to the EU. Another instance of soft Euroscepticism
is represented when there is a sense that the “national interest” is
currently at odds with the EU’s trajectory. Soft Euroscepticism can only
meaningfully be said to exist when a party uses the rhetoric of
contestation over the European issue as part of their political repertoire.
The point of identifying “soft Euroscepticism” is that it captures those
positions that constitute real scepticism about the way in which European
integration is currently developing. It is important to recognize the
following assumption: we assume that the contemporary project of
European integration is being pushed onwards and that the status quo is
very rarely defended as the desired form of European integration. In other
words, we are suggesting that if someone supports the EU as it currently
exists and opposes any further integration, that they are effectively
Eurosceptic since this is at odds with the dominant and on-going mode of
integration 5. Furthermore, “the hard-soft Euroscepticism dichotomy was
designed as a (in the end, rather cumbersome) working definition for the
specific purpose of conducting basic, comparative empirical research on
the manifestation of Euroscepticism in the European party systems” 6.
Therefore, AfD may be included in the category of soft Eurosceptic
parties, because their main concern is related to the future of the
5Paul Taggart and Aleks Szczerbiak, The Party Politics of Euroscepticism in EU Member a nd
Candidate State (Sussex: Sussex European Institute, 2002).
6Paul Taggart and Aleks Szczerbiak, Theorising Party-Based Euroscepticism: Problems of
Definition, Measurement and Causality (Sussex: Sussex European Institute, 2008).

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Șt iin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
31 European Union and where this integration process of new Member
States or refugees is leading Europe.
After we have conducted this theoretical approach in order to
help us better understand how the German Eurosceptic political party
AfD is currently framed, and how the theory about Euroscepticism can be
applied in practice, we shall proceed with a short description of this party
in the next section, by providing an overview of the results registered by
the party at the regional elections between 2013-2016, the political
program of the party for 2016, and the party’s position towards
Islamization and the refugee crisis.
II. AfD is the New German Political Alternative
AfD represents the new German political alternative to the tr aditional
old parties, such as CDU, SPD, and CSU that have been dominating t he
German political scene in the postwar decades. AfD tends to be r egarded
as the successful alternative for Germany’s future in order to r einforce the
country’s position as a unique state in Europe and in the world.
As a party, AfD differentiates itself from other political pa rties through
the fact that it is focused on t he national economy and the state’s profit,
defends the state’s sovereignty, wants to preserve the Germa n language –
as the only language spoken by all the citizens who are living in Germany
–the German culture, and the German roots. Founded in 2013, the thre e
years old party resulted from the German citizens’ dissatisfa ction and fear
regarding the future of their country and as an answer to what they
perceived as the faulty politics conducted by the traditional part ies.
Furthermore, the party has a particular structure and is led by two
spokesmen –an original party leadership model, unique in Europe. AfD
electors and members belong to the middle class, are educated, mos t of
them have a solid academic background and professional experience in
the private sector, and their support of AfD is great because the party is
representative of their values and symbols.

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Șt iin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
32 AfD as a political party is a self-based institution, which “reflects
different interests and different ideologies at different times according to
both internal processes and the external context” 7.
AfD has been very active in 2016, very present on social media,
especially on Facebook, and has become the voice of the discontent
people in the public opinion, being extremely popular ever since the
apparition of the refugee crisis and the migrant waves that have taken
Germany by storm.
II.1. AfD – Germany’s Future?
AfD is a very young party that had been founded prior to the regi onal
and federal elections from 2013 as an answer to the Euro crisis , to
Germany’s economic policy inside the European Union, and to the
support offered by the country to the low economic performers in the
Southern European Member States. Consequently, in September 2012,
Alexander Gauland, former State Secretary of Hessen, Bernd Luc ke,
economist, and Konrad Adam, former chief editor of Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung and correspondent of Die Welt , had the initiative to form
as the political group named Electoral Alternative 2013 (Ger man
Wahlalternative 2013), at first, as a restricted group on F acebook. At the
very beginning, this political organization had only 68 members, fr om
various professional backgrounds, such as economists, journalists,
businessmen –all of them with a solid academic education 8.
Lucke suggested back then that AfD is “a new type of party, a party of
the elites and of impressive personalities that wishes to be pos itioned as a
spokesman of the cheated and disappointed people” 9. The party promotes
populist actions in order to defend the middle class, that is the mai n
contributor to Germany’s economy and to reinforce its position as a
7Paul Taggart, A Touchstone of Dissent: Euroscepticism in Contempo rary Western European Party
Systems (Sussex: School of Social Sciences, University of S ussex, 1998).
8** *, “ Gründung der “Wahlalternative 2013 ”: CDU verliert Politiker an Freie Wähler ”,
Der Spiegel , October 4, 2012, accessed September 22, 2016, htt p://www.spiegel.de/politik
/deutschland/parteiprofil-cdu-verliert-politiker-an -freie-waehler-a-859380.html.
9Richard Gebhardt, “Eine “Partei neuen Typs”? Die Alternative für Deut schland (AfD)
vor den Bundestagswahlen ”, Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegungen 26, no. 3 (September
2013): 86-91.

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Știin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
33 dominant class that is able to govern the country better than the Christian
and Social Democrats.
On February 6 th , 2013, AfD (Alternative for Germany) was established
as a poli tical party, the party’s first conference took place in Be rlin on
April 14 th , 2013, in the presence of its three chairmen: Bernd Lucke,
Frauke Petry, and Konrad Adam. Currently, the party is being led by
Frauke Petry, chemist, and Jörg Meuthen, professor of finance and
political economy at the Kehl Academy. This new Eurosceptic party has
succeeded in convincing CDU and SPD members to change party
affiliation and to join the recently founded political party 10 . Since then,
Frauke Petry became the most representative voice of the par ty, showing
a positive energy and a charismatic personality that has transf ormed her
into an image builder and a spokeswoman capable of influencing people’s
opinions.
Table 1: AfD elections’ evolution (2013 -2016)
Source: ***, “Wahlanalyse: Die Hochburgen der AfD”, Der Spiegel , March 14, 2016,
accessed September 23, 2016,
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/landtagsw ahlen-2016-das-sind-die-
hochburgen-der-afd-a-1082181.html.
10 Jeevan Vasagar, “ 1,000 Germans Abandon Ange la Merkel for Eurosceptic Party”, The
Telegraph , April 14, 2013, accessed September 22, 2016, http ://www.telegraph.co.uk/new
s/worldnews/europe/germany/9993390/1000-Germans-aba ndon-Angela-Merkel-for-E
urosceptic-party.html.

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Știin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
34 Petry’s political speech is focused on debating th e refugee crisis,
the long-term cultural, economic, and social impact of these mig rants in
Germany, the danger of losing the national identity, or the possible
Islamization of Germany. Petry points out that Germany is and mus t
remain a powerful country, where only Germans must live, where only
German must be spoken, and where no Muslims should be accepted.
Petry’s message is radical and extremist, full of populist w ords, but very
motivating, persuasive, and with a huge impact, convincing mil lions of
Germans to stand and vote for AfD.
Moreover, Petry’s ability to mobilize the German citizens ha s
been observed in the regional results from the spring and autumn of 2016,
in which the party became a decisive winner in several regions.
AfD electoral’s evolution s tarting from 2013, registered a progressive
growth. For example, in 2013, at the elections for the State Parliament,
AfD had registered in Hessen only 4.1%, for the Federal Parli ament –
4.7% and for the European Parliament –7.1%. Next year, in 2014, AfD
registered in Saxony –9.7%, in Thuringia –10.6%, and in Brandenburg –
12.2%. In 2015, AfD’s votes grew up to 6.1% in Hamburg, 5.5% in
Bremen, while in 2016, AfD registered 15.1% in Baden-Würt temberg,
12.6% in Rheinland-Pflaz, and 24.4% in Saxony.
The results for the State Parliament from 2013 to 2014 hav e
shown that AfD has strengthened its position and has gained more and
more voters. Many of voters have been disappointed by their original
party preference –such as CDU, SPD or CSU –and have switched to
AfD’s electoral segment. The poor management of the refugee c risis in
2015 and 2016 has affected Merkel’s party, CDU, profoundly. Af D has
succeeded in capturing people’s attention, trust, and confidence through
persuasive messages and a very dynamic and interactive communi cation
on Facebook between the party and the electors. AfD is very prese nt on
Facebook and a significant part of its campaign has taken place on this
social media channel. AfD is dominating Eastern Germany, espec ially the
regions Brandenbu rg and Saxony because AfD’s main segment is located
in the former Democratic Republic of Germany. The results exem plify
the frustration, the economic differences and development, the financi al
and social gap, the high unemployment rate, and the low employee
chances that continue to exist between the rich Western Germany and the

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Știin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
35 poor Eastern Germany. This has been the only way that the citizens could
punish Merkel and the actual government as well as the entire pol itical
class that have been neglecting their own citizens in favor of offering so
much financial support to the Middle East and African refugees that have
come to Germany. In the voters’ opinion, Merkel’s policies were poorly
received because a true leader stands for its own people and must do
everything for the good of the citizens. Also, the Western regions , such as
Hamburg, Bremen, Baden-Württemberg, and Rheinland-Pflaz have sent
an alarm message to the traditional political parties, because they have
been persuaded by AfD’s appealing political pr ogram.
The 2016 political program of AfD 11 comprises of 14 themes:
1. Democracy and fundamental values : AfD reminds and reinforces
the idea that Germany is a sovereign state and must act as
such regardless of the Schengen Treaty (1985), the Maastric ht
Treaty (1993) and the Lisbon Treaty (1993) regulations.
2. Euro and Europe : AfD demands that the Euro experiment
should be stopped and the German Parliament should
organize a referendum so that the citizens could be able to
vote if they are against the Euro. Also, AfD is taking a ve ry
strict position towards Germany’s future as a Member State of
the European Union considering that the country is sovereign
and secure and should not be affected by the EU’s political
approach towards transforming Europe into “United States of
Europe”. Besides this, the party considers that the European
Union is obliged to defend Europe’s values and cultures, the
national identity of each state, and to focus on the growth of
the economy.
3. Internal security and justice : AfD demands that the police and the
Law should be there for the citizens and to defend the people
when needed.
11 Alternative für Deutscland, Grundsatzprogramm der Alternative für Deutschland. Leitantrag
der Bundesprogrammkommission und des Bundesvorstand es, AfD’s Days, Stuttgart, April 30 and
May 1, 2016, accessed September 23, 2016, https://ww w.alternativefuer.de/wp-
content/uploads/sites/7/2016/07/2016-06-20_afdkurzf assung_grundsatzprogramm
_webversion.pdf.

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Știin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
36 4. International policy : AfD claims that Germany should act as an
independent state when it comes to its international policy.
The party advices that Germany should not be so dependent
on the United States of America’s international policy and
must state clearly the direction the country wishes to follow.
5. Labour market and social protection : AfD is demanding that the
labour market should be stable and function in accordance to
the job offerings. Also, the social protection system should
support the unemployed, the disabled persons and the renters
in order to assure them a decent life.
6. Family and children : AfD considers that marriage and family are
the fundamental institutions of a healthy society and demands
that the state should protect these two symbolic values. The
German state should focus on the growth of the birth rate in
Germany of German children that are coming from pure
German families and parents. The state must support the
young German families to educate their children in a healthy
educational system so that the country’s future could be
secured.
7. Culture, language, and identity : AfD demands that the German
language should remain the only official language in Germany,
irrespective of the location (schools, high schools, colleges,
public institutions, private organizations, television, radio,
newspapers). No other language should be accepted and
spoken. This is the only way to prevent the estrangement of
Germans from their national values. Also, the German culture
should be promoted everywhere because Germany has had
great musicians, writers, painters, scientists and inventor s who
provided the German people with a healthy and solid chance
to become educated. The national identity is highly important
in a world governed by globalization. Germany must remain a
sovereign state and should accept other people with different
religion and nationality among them. AfD is opposed to the
current tendency of Germany’s Islamiza tion, demanding that
the Muslims should practice their religion only in their
countries.

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Știin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
37 8. School, university, and research : AfD supports the idea that the
schools, the universities, and the research organizations should
be free and independent and should have their own scholar
program.
9. Migration, integration, and asylum : AfD has a very strong position
against immigration and asylum policy, demanding that the
state individually control each person that wishes to live in
Germany and to insure that the immigrants come to Germany
in order to work and not to abuse the social security system.
AfD is against the integration and absorption process of
foreigners in the German society.
10. Economy, digital world, and customer rights : AfD demands that the
middle class should be supported by the state so that the
economy can thrive. Also, all the goods should be checked
and be in accordance with the mandatory safety requirements.
11. Finance and taxes : The tax system should be fair to all the
citizens. AfD demands that the poor and the middle class
should stop paying huge taxes, and the rich should be taxed
according to their income.
12. Energy policy: AfD is demanding that the CO2 emissions
should be reduced because the country’s environment must
not be polluted.
13. Nature, environment, and agriculture : The country’s nature and
goods should remain intact and not be affected by the
industrialization so that the next generations can have a
healthy country to live in.
14. Infrastructure, housing, and transportation : AfD sustains the
modernizat ion of the country’s infrastructure, a safe and
secure transportation as well as moderate prices and credits for
the persons that wish to buy a house.
AfD’s political program aims to support the Germans, to fight in
order to keep the country’s national and cultural identity, and to make
sure that the country remains democratic and free.

Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Șt iin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
38 III. Conclusions
The election results from 2016 represent the first warning si gnal
to Chancellor Merkel, CDU, SPD, CSU, and the other parties tha t 2017 –
the year when the elections for the German Chancellor take plac e –might
bring unexpected results and it should come as no surprise if AfD obtai ns
a higher electoral score compared to some of the other traditional parties.
That is why we have stated that this new political situation in Germany
represents the beginning of a brand new political era, a relaunch of the
extreme-right and of nationalist positions, the time for a chan ge in how to
approach international policy, the relations with the other European
Union’s Member St ates, the United States of America, China, and so on.
According to AfD, it is the people’s moral obligation to take these actions,
because Europe’s and in particular, Germany’s future are being
threatened. This is why AfD is being seen as the only true alt ernative
which would hubristically allow the Germans to maintain their countr y as
it has been originally established.
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Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanț a –Seria Șt iin țe Politice
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanț a –Political Science Series
No. 5 / 2016
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