Co-chair of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) Alice Weidel has been officially nominated as a candidate for chancellor in the upcoming federal elections.
Points of attention
- Alice Weidel, co-chair of AfD, nominated as far-right party's candidate for chancellor in upcoming German federal elections.
- Weidel's program focuses on restraint on migration, the return of Nord Stream, and the rejection of the “green course”.
- Protests in Germany against the AfD congress and Weidel's candidacy highlight the polarizing nature of the far-right party in German politics.
"Putin's girlfriend" Weidel runs for chancellor
Weidel was elected unanimously by delegates at the party congress, which is taking place on January 10 in Ries, Saxony.
Weidel, in her speech, which she began with the exclamation: "Black, red, gold!" (the colors of the German flag), stated that the party had a plan to make Germany strong, prosperous, and wealthy under her leadership.
In particular, she promised:
"Germany will withdraw from the European asylum migration system under AfD leadership";
"German borders will be tightly closed";
monetary support for migrants will be terminated,
simplification of acquiring German citizenship — canceled;
"remigration" (the antonym of the word migration) will be carried out, recalling the terrorist attacks in Germany committed by foreigners and blaming the authorities for this.
Weidel promised to return the Nord Stream gas pipeline to service, abandon the European (and German) "green course", continue the operation of nuclear power plants that are still operating and invest in new ones, and restore the operation of coal-fired thermal power plants.
She directed her main criticism at the conservatives from the CDU/CSU, who are currently the leaders in the election race.
The party is running under the slogan "Time for Alice Weidel, Time for Germany." Weidel is the first female candidate from her party, which was founded in 2013.
The candidate thanked Elon Musk for hosting a live broadcast of the convention on his social platform in the spirit of "freedom of speech," as well as for his support of the party.
Protests in Germany against the Alternative for Germany congress
A two-day congress of the right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD) began on January 10 in the city of Riesa, Saxony, and is designed to finally decide on the program and leader with which the party will go to the elections.
The congress was planned to start at 10 am (11 am Kyiv time), but it was more than two hours late.
In front of the stadium where party members are gathering, large demonstrations by both supporters and opponents are taking place in the morning. Thousands of opponents have organized into groups and are trying to approach the right-wing party's gathering place from different directions and block the entrances of about 600 delegates.
