AfD co-leader Alice Weidel advocated Germany’s withdrawal from the euro and the Schengen area if her party joins the federal government. Weidel also called for national borders to be closed and migration policies to be tightened.
Speaking in a summer interview, Weidel said Germany was in a much stronger economic position before the euro was introduced. She claimed that the euro had weakened the country’s economy and reduced household wealth.
She calls for tougher migration policies
Weidel said Germany would close its borders and leave the Schengen area. She called for more deportations and for citizenship to be granted to fewer people.
The AfD co-leader also called for Syrians whose protection status has expired to be returned. The statements demonstrated her party’s aim of tightening migration policy further.
Criticism of the CDU and SPD
Weidel criticized Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil’s Social Democratic Party. She also condemned the CDU’s refusal to cooperate with the AfD.
Weidel argued that the AfD would come to power at the state and federal levels, saying that her party would first join governments in some states and later enter the federal government.
Polling results
Before the state elections scheduled for September 6, the AfD was polling above 40 percent in Saxony-Anhalt. The party’s nationwide support stood at 27 percent, while the CDU’s was 22 percent.
Motor vehicles and climate policy
Weidel reiterated the party’s opposition to the planned ban on internal combustion engines. She also rejected measures aimed at addressing human-caused climate change.
