Support for the hard-right AfD is surging in Germany
Immigration and alienation are the themes it bangs away on
There seems nothing alarming about the election posters in Raguhn-Jessnitz, two hours’ drive south-west of Berlin. “Abiding support for homeland, culture and clubs!” promise the now-fading words that earlier this month helped Hannes Loth become mayor of the township, a clutch of villages on the banks of the meandering Mulde river. Yet by electing Germany’s first-ever full-time municipal boss from the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) its 8,000 voters also, to use one of Germany’s favourite Anglicisms, stirred up einen Shitstorm.
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Rise of the right”
Europe July 15th 2023
From the July 15th 2023 edition
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