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☆ AfD's Regional Budget Win Erodes German 'Firewall' Against Far Right
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Thomas EscrittERFURT, Germany (Reuters) - The convention by which Germany's far right is kept far from government regardless of how many parliamentary seats it wins was dealt another blow on Thursday when its votes were used to defeat a regional government in a crucial budget bill. Thursday's vote in Thuringia's parliament, when the far right, the conservative Christian Democrats and the pro-business Free Democrats combined to push through a tax cut against the wishes of the left-wing coalition, is the latest sign of change. But, highlighting the dilemma, the regional CDU leader Mario Voigt said such a course of action would effectively deprive him of the right to oppose. The party's regional leader, Bjorn Hoecke, is currently on trial for hate speech after uttering a slogan that stems from a Nazi chant. "We democrats have to stop the finger-pointing, sit down together and find a position that lives up to that responsibility."

Persons: Thomas Escritt, Germany's, Bodo Ramelow, Mario Voigt, Bjorn Hoecke, Stephan Kramer, Daniel Guenther, Rachel More, Nick Macfie Organizations: Christian Democrats, Free Democrats, CDU, Frankfurter Allgemeine Locations: Thomas Escritt ERFURT, Germany, Thuringia's, Thuringian, Sonneberg, Saxony, Anhalt, Thuringia, East Germany, West Germany, Brandenburg, Berlin, Schlweswig, Holstein

AfD members sit in voting booths on the day of the European election assembly 2023 of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Magdeburg, Germany, July 29, 2023. Thursday's vote in Thuringia's parliament, when the far right, the conservative Christian Democrats and the pro-business Free Democrats combined to push through a tax cut against the wishes of the left-wing coalition, is the latest sign of change. But, highlighting the dilemma, the regional CDU leader Mario Voigt said such a course of action would effectively deprive him of the right to oppose. The party's regional leader, Bjorn Hoecke, is currently on trial for hate speech after uttering a slogan that stems from a Nazi chant. "We democrats have to stop the finger-pointing, sit down together and find a position that lives up to that responsibility."

Persons: Annegret, Germany's, Bodo Ramelow, Mario Voigt, Bjorn Hoecke, Stephan Kramer, Daniel Guenther, Thomas Escritt, Rachel More, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Christian Democrats, Free Democrats, CDU, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Thomson Locations: Germany, Magdeburg, Rights ERFURT, Thuringia's, Thuringian, Sonneberg, Saxony, Anhalt, Thuringia, East Germany, West Germany, Brandenburg, Berlin, Schlweswig, Holstein

CNN —A candidate from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a local leadership post for the first time on Sunday in a resounding victory for a group whose anti-migrant, Euroskeptic and anti-Muslim agenda is under surveillance by German authorities. The AfD’s Robert Sesselmann triumphed over incumbent Jürgen Köpper of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party to become district administrator of Sonneberg, in Thuringia, central Germany, at the weekend. “Unfortunately, it has not been a personal election as state elections have always been, it has become a pure party election,” he said. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party’s chairwoman Saskia Esken called the AfD victory in Sonneberg a “political dam-break” on Monday. Even though the move doesn’t apply to parent party AfD, it revealed a growing segment of young Germans united by extreme views on migration and anti-feminism.

Persons: Robert Sesselmann, Jürgen Köpper, Sesselmann, Köpper, ”, Olaf Scholz’s, Saskia Esken, Ricarda Lang, ” Lang, Mario Czaja, Steffen Hebestreit, ” Hebestreit, ‘, BfV, Martin Schutt, Hans Vorländer, ” Vorländer, Alice Weidel Organizations: CNN, Christian Democratic Union, CDU, Office, Statistics, Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic, Green Party, Getty Locations: Germany, Thuringia, Thuringian, Sonneberg, Ukraine, Dresden, Berlin “, Saxony

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