German leader confident that surging far-right party will shrink again before next election #German #leader #confident #surging #farright #party #shrink #election

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed optimism Friday that support for a far-right party which has been surging in the polls lately will shrink to previous levels again by the time of the next national election in 2025.

The far-right Alternative for Germany party received 10.3% of the vote in the last national election in 2021 — a slight decline from 2017, when it got 12.6% in the wake of the European migration crisis. Recent polls have shown support for the party, known by its German acronym AfD, at around 20% and ahead of Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats.

“I’m quite confident that AfD won’t perform much differently at the next federal election than it did at the last,” Scholz told reporters at his annual summer news conference in Berlin.

The German government has presented a long-awaited strategy for relations with China that points to a “systemic rivalry” with the Asian power and a need to reduce risks of economic dependency, but highlights Berlin’s desire to work with Beijing on challenges such as climate change and maintain trade

From left, party member Mario Czaja, the Chairman of the German Christian Democatic Party (CDU), Friedrich Merz, and party member Carsten Linnemann, attend a meeting of the CDU Federal Executive Committee in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Germany’s opposition leader is replacing one of his party’s top officials with an ally as he tries to improve its standing in polls and capitalize on discontent with the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Friedrich Merz announced on Tuesday that he was replacing Mario Czaja as the party’s general secretary — the official responsible for day-to-day political strategy. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)

Germany’s opposition leader is replacing one of his party’s top officials with an ally as he tries to improve its standing in polls and capitalize on discontent with the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

FILE - Friedrich Merz, Chairman of the German Christian Democratic (CDU) party and CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, attends meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Germany's conservative opposition leader said Tuesday that large-scale migration is one of the country's biggest problems and one of the main reasons for the recent surge in support for the far right. (Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP, File)

Germany’s conservative opposition leader says large-scale migration is one of the country’s biggest problems and the main reason for a recent surge in support for the far right.

FILE - Ukrainian servicemen load bodies of Russian soldiers in to a railway refrigerator carriage in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 13, 2022. Nearly 50,000 Russian soldiers have died in the war in Ukraine, according to a new statistical analysis. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

Nearly 50,000 Russian soldiers have died in the war in Ukraine, according to a new statistical analysis.

The 65-year-old said his strategy to achieve this is to pursue policies “that give citizens enough reasons to believe in a good future” — including by showing that the country is in control of its borders and can curb irregular migration.

Scholz also appealed to mainstream parties in Germany’s 16 states to keep the consequences of their rivalry in mind. Some of those regions will hold state elections this year and in 2024 , which are seen as key bellwethers for the next national election.

He argued that the “democratic parties” and their supporters make up a broad majority in every state and that there has been no “normalization” of far-right ideology in mainstream society.


#German #leader #confident #surging #farright #party #shrink #election

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *