Alternative for Deutschland continues to appeal to wider reach of voters

Germany, like many other EU nations, is seeing a pivot to the right, and the weekend's European parliamentary elections highlighted that.

Despite the dark cloud hovering over the country's far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD), the party still managed to bring in just shy of 16 percent of the German votes, five percent more than they did in 2019.

Days before the elections, the AfD was kicked out of the Identity and Democracy coalition of far-right parties in the European Parliament, due to statements made by some members that were considered outside acceptable political discourse.

The party has been wrought by accusations of corruption and suspected espionage, while individual members have been accused of remarks deemed fascist, racist and extremist.

But that hasn't deterred many supporters.

Extremism

"I don't see the party as being radical or extreme" 60-year-old voter Monika Trodler told CGTN. She use to support former chancellor Angela Merkel's centrist Christian Democratic Union party (CDU), until she felt abandoned by her own government.

"If someone stands by their opinion and defends their opinion and gives reasons for it, then they are immediately (classified) extreme or radical."

Nationalists

Trodler helped put up AfD campaign posters for the European Elections around her home in the Western German state of Rhineland Pfalz and said more and more people are coming up to ask her questions about the party.

She said: "The AfD was the only party that really bent over backwards in the German Parliament and everywhere else and always fought to ensure that there was no compulsory Covid-19 vaccinations because everyone should decide for themselves. I want to be able to have a say as a citizen."

Migration

Migration is another issue many AfD supporters feel they don't have a say over.

The party gained a large following after fighting against former Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to open the border to a million refugees and economic migrants in 2016. A year later, the AfD won enough seats to enter the German parliament for the first time.

"Migration is the mother of all problems or most of the problems in Germany and Europe," former soldier, diplomat and now AfD party member Bernhard Zimniok told CGTN.

"It starts from the housing, the budget, criminal statistics and … we subsidise the rest of the world on the burden of our country. Our philosophy is based on facts and based on what is the well being for our country and our population."

Enemy and Foe

While this forward approach may irk some, it is proving attractive to those fed up with current left leaning governments across Europe, according to political theorist at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Sascha Ruppert-Karakas.

He said: "This is one central point in their whole discourse. You have this victimisation narrative. They say liberalism is a trick, a trick of the elite in order to get the whole country under they control. It's a thinking of enemy and foe. And this is something which is very attractive to many people who are afraid of freedom and pluralism and something like that."

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Social media success

The use of social media has also helped the AFD make a strong gains among younger voters said Ruppert-Karakas.

"As well as they are masters of crisis construction, they are masters of the digital sphere. If you take a look at TikTok, if you take a look at Instagram, they are so represented over there, they are putting (out) so much content and we should try as liberal parties to counter this in any way."

The success of this hard line thinking is even inspiring new parties, such as the 'WerteUnion' (Values Union) which aims to fill the "gap" in German politics, between parties, such as the CDU, considered too moderate, and the AfD, which many fear is too extreme.

So while certain radical rhetoric within the AFD has hurt the party's mainstream popularity, polls show that their politics have not.

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