German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has once again taken it on the chin as his Christian Democratic Union party was trounced in two state elections over the weekend. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) was the largest single vote getter but will be unable to govern because all the other parties refuse to form a coalition with it.
Washington Times columnist Robert Knight says AfD has grown because previous German leaders like former Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed a flood of Islamic migrants into the country.
"Transforming Germany into a multicultural society with a growing Islamic presence has become more and more of a threat," Knight tells AFN. "The Germans seem to have had it, and the AfD also is promoting the natural family, marriage, family values, against the tide of liberalism that has pushed same-sex marriage and the whole LGBTQ agenda."
But he believes conservative Americans may find one AfD stance troubling.
"They want to resume cheap energy from Russia while Russia is pounding Ukraine," the columnist points out. "To me, that's short-sighted. Russia is still a threat to Europe, obviously, especially if you live in Ukraine, so that might be where Americans hesitate to support the AfD."
But on other issues like immigration and traditional family values, Knight thinks "a lot of Americans would find they have a lot in common with them."
Germany has a multi-party system with dozens of registered political parties, but only a few major ones hold seats in the federal parliament or play a primary role in government.
The prominent national parties like the Christian Democratic Union/ Christian Social Union, the Social Democratic Party, the Alliance 90/ The Greens, the Left (Die Linke), the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, and the Free Democratic Party, however, have classified those parts of the AfD as right-wing extremist threats to the democratic constitutional order.
