Germany’s nationalist far right is increasingly looking to ideological allies abroad to give it the legitimacy it craves at home.
That was evident at a convention of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Saturday when Alice Weidel, the party’s chancellor candidate, thanked billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk for streaming the event on his X account, where it was viewed by millions around the world, giving the party a much bigger stage than it is accustomed to.
“I would like to thank Elon Musk, who is live streaming this party conference so that everyone can see what we are doing politics for,” Weidel said during her speech to enthusiastic cheers. “Everyone should see it.” Switching to English, she added: “Freedom of speech!”
The AfD has been energized by Musk’s endorsement ahead of a national election Feb. 23. Not only is he promoting the party on his platform, but AfD leaders see Musk, a close adviser to United States President-elect Donald Trump, as a key link to the incoming U.S. administration.
In a display of their desire to forge closer ties, AfD delegates adopted a motion on Saturday to build closer relations between Germany and the U.S., and in particular with the future Trump administration. Marc Jongen, an AfD member of the European Parliament, described the motion as a “thank you” to Musk.
The AfD, a Russia-friendly party that wants closer relations with the Kremlin, isn’t known for housing a strong pro-America faction. Rather, many AfD politicians resent what they view as U.S. postwar domination of Germany. In a recent interview with the American Conservative bimonthly magazine, Weidel said Germans are a “defeated people” and suggested Germany is a “slave” to the U.S.
But for AfD leaders, Trump could redefine America’s role in the world and become a close ally.
Weidel suggested as much during her convention speech, implying that an AfD-led government would be uniquely placed to pursue strong ties with both the Kremlin and the Trump administration — making Germany, in the still far-fetched scenario that it leads Germany’s government after February’s election, a bridge between Putin and Trump.
The AfD “is the only party that has all channels of communication open to the East and the West,” she said.
The AfD’s defenders abroad
The Trump administration hasn’t clearly thrown its support behind the AfD, but Musk’s advocacy for the party has at least sparked some interest in high places.
Earlier this month, Vice President-elect JD Vance reposted on X an English-language translation of Musk’s opinion piece in Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper, in which he called the party the “last spark of hope” for the country.
“I’m not endorsing a party in the German elections, as it’s not my country and we hope to have good relations with all Germans,” Vance wrote. “But this is an interesting piece.”
Vance went on to defend the party, claiming the “American media slanders AfD as Nazi-lite.”
Many German mainstream leaders, including conservatives, have warned that the AfD peddles Nazi ideology; meanwhile, Germany’s federal domestic intelligence agency has classified it as a suspected right-wing extremist organization. The party’s leader in the eastern German state of Thuringia, Björn Höcke, has been found guilty of using a banned slogan employed by Adolf Hitler’s SA storm troopers; a German court once ruled Höcke could justifiably be called a fascist.
A defense of the party from someone of Vance’s stature serves to undermine warnings from German officials, potentially legitimizing the AfD among voters. It also raises questions about the likely warmth of relations between the Trump administration and the next German government, which, according to current polls, is likely to be led by conservative chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz.
Merz’s conservatives, like other German parliamentary parties, have vowed not to govern with the AfD. But party leaders are playing the long game, hoping to build enough popularity over time that other parties find it impossible to exclude them.
It’s still far from clear that Musk’s endorsement of the AfD will help it in that regard, even as polls show the party has become more popular in recent weeks. The AfD is in second place behind Germany’s conservatives in polls, with support of around 21 percent.
There are also other sources of foreign support much closer to home that could also benefit the AfD.
One of the biggest boosts for the party may come from Austria, where the successes of Herbert Kickl and his far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) — who appear poised to take power in Vienna after coalition talks among mainstream parties collapsed earlier this month — have emboldened German far-right leaders, who see in Austria a roadmap for how they too might one day take power.
AfD leaders view the FPÖ as a “sister party,” and feel that should their Austrian sibling take power, it could further destigmatize the AfD in the eyes of German voters.
“Austria is ahead of us in terms of development,” Höcke, the AfD’s Thuringia leader, wrote in a post on X.
Embracing extremism
Just a year ago, things weren’t looking so rosy for the AfD.
Last January, outraged Germans took to the streets in huge numbers to protest against the radical right after an investigative report by Correctiv revealed that AfD politicians had been present at a meeting of right-wing extremists, at which a “master plan” to deport migrants and “unassimilated citizens” en masse was discussed. The attendees euphemistically dubbed the plot “remigration.”
The sustained protest movement, which drew millions in cities across the country, appeared to damage the AfD — leading many Germans to question whether the demonstrators had put a halt to the party’s rise. Even France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen moved to distance herself from the AfD, if only in a bid to depict her own party as more palatable for French voters.
A year later, however, the AfD has largely recovered, and is approaching the record-high polling numbers it enjoyed before the protest movement. During that time, Trump was elected on a platform that included a promise to carry out mass deportations.
In an illustration of how extremist ideas can rapidly become normal with a little rhetorical resonance from the party’s friends across the Atlantic, the AfD’s national leaders, who used to avoid the euphemism “remigration” in light of the controversy, are now fully embracing the term.
During her speech at the AfD convention, Weidel vowed to seal Germany’s borders and enact “large-scale repatriations” once in power.
“I have to tell you quite honestly: If it’s to be called remigration, then it’s just called remigration,” Weidel declared to spirited applause.
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