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🇧🇪 Belgium /Elections & Politics

How One of the AfD’s Most Radical Branches Is Preparing to Take Power

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Ongoing story
  • The far-right Alternative for Germany could win an outright majority in Saxony-Anhalt if smaller parties fail to clear the 5% threshold.
  • Lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund supports abolishing public broadcasting, launching a “remigration offensive” and creating separate classes for children with migrant backgrounds or disabilities.
  • The state’s intelligence service classifies the AfD branch as “definitely far-right,” while several candidates around Siegmund have links to neo-Nazi organizations.

Ulrich Siegmund arrives with a broad smile, compliments for supporters and long queues for photographs. Yet Der Spiegel has called the AfD’s lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt “Germany’s most dangerous man.” More than 40% of voters, according to polls cited in the report, see him not as a danger but as an ideal son-in-law.

That contrast could soon acquire political weight. The AfD is close to an outright majority in Sunday’s state election. If several smaller parties fail to cross the 5% threshold, the party could govern alone. It would be the first time since the Second World War that a far-right party took power somewhere in Germany.

Germany’s most dangerous man

· Der SpiegelThe magazine’s description of AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund.

Behind Siegmund’s friendly campaign manner stands a radical program. The AfD wants to abolish the existing public broadcaster and replace it with a “neutral” alternative. It also proposes a “remigration offensive,” less attention to the Second World War and the Holocaust in schools, and separate classes for children with migrant backgrounds and students with disabilities. Russian would again become a compulsory school subject, intended to improve contact with Russians and counter what the party calls “hostility toward Russia.”

Siegmund threatens disciplinary proceedings against civil servants who resist

· Justus BenderThe AfD expert’s assessment of Siegmund’s expected governing style.

The party also wants to end subsidies for the Bauhaus art school and many nongovernmental organizations. Its Saxony-Anhalt branch has long been considered one of the most radical in Germany. The domestic intelligence service, the Verfassungsschutz, classifies it as “definitely far-right” and says the party undermines the constitution.

The AfD is preparing for government through initiatives including a “Black-Red-Gold Academy.” AfD expert Justus Bender expects a forceful governing style and says, “Siegmund threatens disciplinary proceedings against civil servants who resist.” Several candidates around Siegmund have links to neo-Nazi organizations, including the banned youth group Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend.

definitely far-right

· VerfassungsschutzThe domestic intelligence service’s classification of the AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt branch.
About this summary

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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