The Alternative for Germany party also reportedly wants to ditch the euro and return to trading with Russia
Alternative for Germany (AfD) – the third largest opposition party in the country’s parliament – intends to take the country out of the EU if it wins the upcoming election, several media outlets reported on Friday, citing the party’s newly drafted election manifesto.
AfD, presently polling in second place behind the center-right CDU ahead of next year’s elections, has confirmed that the document is ready but has not released it to the public. The party also wants Germany to ditch the euro, and return to a “stable national currency,” media outlets including Die Zeit and Der Spiegel have claimed.
“We believe that Germany’s exit from the European Union and the establishment of a new European community are necessary,” the 85-page manifesto reportedly says.
The EU in its current form should be replaced by an “Economic and Interest Community” after a transition period “negotiated… with both the old EU partner states and new interested parties,” media outlets have cited the document as saying, adding that the AfD believes the EU is trying to become a “superstate.”
On its website, the party lists Germany’s exit from the EU as part of its political agenda and advocates a “Europe of nations” concept, adding that “irrevocable renunciation of sovereignty in favor of an ‘ever closer’ European Union is incompatible” with this vision.
The party is also seeking to restore trade ties with Russia, which were disrupted by EU sanctions imposed after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The AfD text highlights Russia’s importance as a supplier of cheap natural gas for German industry, according to national media.
The document also calls for sanctions on Russia to be lifted and the Nord Stream gas pipelines to be repaired, according to Die Zeit. Nord Stream 1 delivered Russian gas to Germany before it was blown up in September 2022, along with Nord Stream 2.
The party also apparently wants Germany to exit the Paris Climate Agreement and introduce abortion restrictions.
AfD has neither confirmed nor denied the reports about its election program, but said that the document was sent to delegates of the federal party conference, scheduled for mid-January.
The document’s lead author, Professor Ingo Hahn, has described it as a “convincing work that not only names the pressing problems of our country, but also shows clear solutions that will lead Germany out of the current misery.”
Germany could hold an early parliamentary vote as soon as February 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party government coalition earlier this month. If Scholz’s now-minority cabinet loses a confidence vote in mid-December, the country will head into a snap election.
AfD became the fifth largest faction in the Bundestag following the 2021 parliamentary election, in which it gained more than 10% of the vote.
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