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The revelation of right-wing extremist plans for the mass deportation of migrants is currently driving people into the streets in Germany. Since the revelations of the ‘Correctiv’ investigative network, hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated across Germany against the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Party members attended the meeting where the plans were discussed.

Many demonstrators fear that the AfD will come to power. What seemed like a nightmare for many citizens for a long time could soon become reality: in Thuringia and Saxony, the party came first in surveys. Meanwhile, the established parties are wondering how to win back potential AfD voters.

Can the mass protests help? Political scientist and AfD expert Kai Arzheimer from the University of Mainz talks about this in an interview with t-online.

t-online: Mr. Arzheimer, this weekend hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated against the AfD. Are the supporters of this party impressed by this?

Kai Arzheimer: That is a difficult question. It will not necessarily be possible to win back those who have long been loyal to the party through demonstrations. But the hundreds of thousands of people who are now taking to the streets against the AfD could have an effect on another section of AfD supporters.

Which followers do you mean?

In the 2021 federal elections, the AfD received around ten percent of the vote. I think they form the hard core of the electorate. These people vote for the AfD because they reject immigration and a multicultural society. There are many former NPD voters, especially in East Germany. If the party’s right-wing extremist views become known, it will not bother them. However, in national surveys the AfD currently stands at 22 percent. So there have been people who are not entirely ideologically stable and who have voted for a different party in the past. The protests and public outrage could give them food for thought.

Are the demonstrations a wake-up call to Democrats that the hour has come?

In each case. The protests also mobilize people who are dissatisfied with current politics. People who would otherwise have stayed at home during the elections, but now understand: it is about more than just the question of who will make better policy for the farmers or which heating system will be installed.

The demonstrations were caused by a meeting in Potsdam, where AfD officials, among others, allegedly made plans for the mass deportation of migrants.

The Potsdam meeting summarizes what has been seen in recent years: the AfD has been continuously radicalized. It started as a bourgeois center-right party against the rescue of the euro under Bernd Lucke. Lucke was followed by Frauke Petry and then by Jörg Meuthen as chairman, all always slightly further to the right than their predecessor. And everyone left the party because it moved too far to the right for them. The public debate about the Potsdam meeting has made many Germans aware of how much the AfD has changed.

The stigma attached to the NPD was that it stood in the tradition of the NSDAP. That stopped many people from voting for her. Things have been different for the AfD so far. Is that changing now?

The AfD has long succeeded in uniting different movements in the right-wing spectrum. Björn Höcke was there from the start. Much of what was discussed in Potsdam was already in his book, which was published in 2019. At the same time, until recently the party had officials like Jörg Meuthen, who looked very different as an economics professor. The AfD has long benefited from bringing the two together. This is now becoming more difficult due to the protests. Some people are now realizing: “Some AfD politicians could also be in the NPD, despite wearing a suit and tie and pursuing very similar goals.”

The AfD presents itself as a fighter against a so-called left-green elite. Are you responding to such a broad social protest to portray yourself as a victim?

The AfD is trying to reinterpret the protests as a radical left-wing mobilization against them. I don’t think she will succeed. The scale of the protests shows that the AfD does not speak for the silent majority – contrary to what it claims. The AfD is not the people, the people are on the streets by the hundreds of thousands. It is difficult for the AfD to place these people in the left-green corner.

There were reports this weekend about left-wing groups allegedly hijacking the protests. In Munich, for example, the organizer declared CSU politicians undesirable. Does this hurt the protests?

Yes. This could cause some people to stop attending protests. That would be bad. However, so far I don’t see this as a large-scale problem.

Critics accuse the CDU and CSU of using anti-immigrant rhetoric to make the AfD socially acceptable in the first place. Is this criticism misplaced during the protests?

This criticism may be expressed. The Union is trying to win back voters from the radical right on a large scale through the migration issue. Research shows: that is not smart. It just means that migration policy becomes even more important for voting decisions. This in turn benefits right-wing radical parties. The Union should rather concentrate on its economic competence. In general. But if you want to achieve anything from the demonstrations, the organizers must overlook these things.

So for the protests to be successful, it is essential to involve conservative parties and their voters?

I highly recommend this. Let it be clear: it is also a difficult situation for the Union. With the AfD there is a party with which one could form governments to the right of the centre. But for state reasons, the Union does not cooperate with the AfD. Instead, it must build coalitions that are sometimes uncomfortable. So you have to build bridges to the Union. The protests are an opportunity for the parties and their supporters to recall what they have in common: the Basic Law.

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