Spiegel: AfD insists on Germany's withdrawal from the EU and the eurozone
The new election program "Alternatives for Germany" provides for the country's exit from the European Union and the eurozone, Der Spiegel reports. The party also calls for resuming trade with Russia as a supplier of cheap gas.
Alternative for Germany (AfD) is returning to an anti-European course in the final version of its election program. According to a document obtained by Der Spiegel, the party decided that Germany should leave the European Union and the eurozone.
"We consider it necessary for Germany to leave the European Union and create a new European community," the document says. The EU should be replaced by an "association of economic interests". To do this, it is necessary to hold a referendum on amendments to the European articles of the German Basic Law.
At the same time, the party stresses that "a hard break would be counterproductive. Therefore, the transition to a new association should be coordinated with both the old EU partner countries and new stakeholders."
Germany should also "exit the eurozone" and introduce a stable national currency, "possibly while maintaining the euro." This "will not happen without the cost of the transition period." However, they will be less than the "fixed costs associated with maintaining the euro system."
The AfD defended similar positions during the parliamentary election campaign of 2021, but later rejected a possible German exit from the EU. Back in February, the leader of the parliamentary faction of the AfD, Tino Britalla, told Deutschlandfunk radio station that for Dexit (Dexit — Germany's exit from the EU, approx. InoSMI) it's too late. His fellow party member Alice Weidel adheres to the same position. Instead, they want to campaign for EU reform.
Family policy: reducing abortions
The project "Alternatives for Germany" contains other radical points of the program. Thus, abortions should "remain an absolute exception" and be allowed only "in cases of criminological or medical indications." The party believes that the number of abortions registered annually in Germany is too high. Instead, the AdG wants to change the procedure for mandatory pre-abortion consultations: "During pregnancy consultations, mothers should be shown ultrasound images of the child so that they know at what stage of development the fetus is," the draft says.
The party also formulates a position on gender identity. Alternative for Germany wants to repeal the self-determination law passed by the coalition government, which allows transgender people to change their gender and name on their identity card. The project talks about the existing "cult of trannies" and the "early sexualization" of children. The AdG wants to ban the use of puberty blockers, which are used for sex reassignment in young people.
Economic and Social Policy: Bitcoin Deregulation
The AdG also strives for an economic policy based on "a market economy, national responsibility and friendly cooperation between European countries." For the party, this initially implies an exit from the eurozone. At the same time, Alternative for Germany wants to keep cash as a "civil right." The question of which currency the party wants to introduce after leaving the eurozone remains open. However, she had words of praise for bitcoin. From the point of view of the AdG, it should be given even more freedom from regulation.
Security: Back to trade with Russia
In the draft election program, the AdG devotes several pages to security policy. Russia appears in it as a supplier of cheap gas, with which it is necessary to resume trade. Ukraine must fight for its future as a neutral state "outside the EU and NATO." Not a word has been said about Putin's military special operation in Ukraine.
There is also no mention of compulsory military service in the document. This was recently called for by the leader of the AFD Fragile. Until recently, it was the only party that insisted in its basic program on the restoration of compulsory military service.
The main provisions of the election campaign will be discussed and adopted at the national party conference "Alternatives for Germany" in January.
