German Chancellor Friedrich Merz accused the Alternative for Germany (AfD) of supporting Russia and promoting anti‑migration policies that he described as tantamount to ethnic cleansing. He made the remarks in the Bundestag after the AfD won a decisive victory in Saxony‑Anhalt, where it ran on a platform to curb migration and restore ties with Moscow.
The AfD said Merz was mischaracterising its positions and that its policies are legal. Its 2024 election programme in Saxony‑Anhalt calls for “remigration”, a policy that would accelerate the deportation of rejected asylum seekers and foreign criminals and incentivise voluntary departure. The party also proposes segregated classes for children of refugees. The party is classified as right‑wing extremist by the domestic intelligence service.
Merz warned that forcing migrants to leave would create a severe skill shortage, saying that nursing homes, hospitals and restaurants would all collapse under a remigration policy. Minority‑group representatives, including Auschwitz survivor Eva Umlauf, expressed alarm at the AfD’s rise. AfD lawmaker Bernd Baumann replied that attributing ethnic cleansing to the party was a desperate attempt to demonise it.
The AfD, founded as a eurosceptic party in 2013, rejects comparisons with the Nazi Party but has faced criticism for downplaying Germany’s Nazi past. After the election, it remained short of an outright majority, and mainstream parties have pledged not to form coalitions with it. Merz accused the AfD of breaking its pledge to govern only if it secured a majority, noting that 56% of voters in Saxony‑Anhalt did not support the party.
