More than a decade ago, the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) was founded in opposition to the European Union’s efforts to manage the euro crisis. Now, as it garners growing support, the party is working to shift its stance toward the EU, reports Reuters.
Following a historic victory in the state elections of Saxony-Anhalt in September, it appears that this party—currently the most popular in Germany according to polls—could potentially enter the federal government before the end of the decade. Such prospects force the party to consider how to balance its anti-establishment identity with the need to present itself as a credible partner to potential allies, both at home and abroad.
The AfD was founded in 2013—a time marked by public outrage over financial bailouts for heavily indebted eurozone nations—and began as a movement opposed to the single currency. Later, its criticism expanded to the EU as a whole, but the party gained significant traction primarily through its opposition to immigration. This is a stance that both political opponents and the domestic intelligence service view as uncomfortably close to xenophobia and the promotion of racial supremacy—areas in which Germany has a dark historical legacy.
The AfD has rejected accusations of extremism, and many party members have argued that, given the current rise in far-right sentiment and the growing influence of like-minded parties elsewhere in Europe, reforming the bloc from within is a more productive approach than abandoning it entirely. AfD lawmaker Sebastian Muenzenmaier stated that the prospects for reshaping Europe in line with the party’s vision have never been better.
However, the goal of abandoning the euro—a cause still dear to many of the AfD’s founders and early supporters—has proven difficult to achieve.
Younger party members, such as Jean-Pascal Hohm from the party’s youth wing, Generation Deutschland, believe that a hardline anti-European stance could hinder the party’s path toward federal government and potential cooperation with the Christian Democrats (CDU)—led by Friedrich Merz—who have currently ruled out any possibility of working with the AfD. In October, party leader Alice Weidel presented a strategic document in the European Parliament that shifts the focus away from leaving the eurozone, concentrating instead on revising treaties to grant greater freedom to the bloc’s member states.
Weidel told journalists that the AfD advocates for a European Union conceived as a “union of fatherlands,” but she declined to comment on whether the party still seeks Germany’s withdrawal from the eurozone.
By abandoning the idea of leaving the eurozone, the AfD would be following the example of other far-right parties in Europe that have already garnered significant support in their respective countries. France’s National Rally (RN) long advocated for leaving the eurozone but eventually dropped the proposal to broaden its appeal; the party now has a realistic chance of winning the presidency. Similarly, in Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party has significantly toned down its Eurosceptic rhetoric, while Austria’s Freedom Party—which maintains close ties to the AfD—has moved away from its Eurosceptic stance to position itself for a potential role in a governing coalition.