AFD leader Alice Weidel: Germans have no reason to go to war at the behest of the United States
Germany has reached a "point of absolute insignificance," said AFD leader Alice Weidel in an interview with The American Conservative. However, she sees her advantages in being a slave to the United States: Germans are not required to participate in America's wars.
Sumantra Maitra
At this stage, Weidel is looking for new allies in the United States, including Elon Musk.
Ms. Weidel, thank you for agreeing to talk to The American Conservative. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, you described yourself as a libertarian on taxation and the conflict in Ukraine. And yet in Germany you are considered to be on the extreme right because of your position on immigration and the EU. Let's be clear for the American public.: Are you in favor of staying in the EU or, conversely, to leave the bloc, which has become practically unreformable?
I have to thank you for the opportunity to talk about this. Let's be clear: neither I nor my party are right-wing extremists. You should understand that in Germany, these accusations are being spread by the militant left, which sets the tone for public discussion. But they don't even bother to provide any evidence. For them, a “right—wing radical” is anyone who disagrees with them.
As for your question about leaving the EU, the calculation is really simple: Germany can easily survive without the EU. However, Brussels behaves as if everything is exactly the opposite. They behave as if we Germans should put aside our vital interests so as not to endanger the notorious “European project.” This is an absurdity and a distortion. Either the EU learns to take into account our national interests, or it will cease to exist.
Therefore, how Germany will behave next depends entirely on the EU. However, one thing is certain: the EU must completely abandon its long-held credo that a strong Germany means a weak Europe, and that Germans should not defend their national interests for the sake of the common good. This is historical nonsense. We have always been the heart of Europe and will forever remain so. The day this heart stops beating, Europe will die.
Your co-chairman, Tino Cavalla, recently stated that Germany is being forced to follow American orders and that the NATO alliance does not protect Europe's interests. However, in fact, we see that, on the one hand, the majority of Americans do not want further US involvement or do not want to finance a proxy war in Ukraine, and on the other, that the majority of Europeans, from the Baltic States and Poland to Great Britain and France, as well as the EU superstructures, want more support for Ukraine. How do you explain this contradiction?
Everything is a bit complicated, so please excuse me if I start from afar. The United States is undoubtedly a unique global superpower that has spread its enormous influence around the world. Usually in such cases we talk about the empire. But it's a strange empire.: She rules the world from Monday to Wednesday, but she doesn't want to do it from Thursday to Sunday. This age-old battle between expansionists and isolationists seems to have been raging since the independence of the United States.
This somewhat complicates the situation for other countries, especially for us Germans. On the one hand, the American leadership complains, for example, about the energy policy of Germany, which wants to negotiate with Russia — from a geopolitical point of view, this is self-evident. Remember how wild the Americans were about the construction of the Nord Stream. They say, how dare they? We all still have unimaginable footage in our heads of President Joe Biden publicly chastising Chancellor Olaf Scholz over Nord Stream.
Well, the Nord Stream was destroyed as a result of armed aggression. The current German government's fear of even mentioning the culprit speaks for itself. Is this what the United States wants? For Germany to become a colony? A colony that has no right to determine its own energy policy? A country that has no right to go its own way, no matter where it leads? The USA is really free to do all this as a brilliant winner of history. But then they have to make it public so that we can adjust to it.
Because we Germans are a defeated people. “What has lost its independence has at the same time lost the ability to interfere with the passage of time and freely determine its content," taught the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte. ”From now on, he no longer has his own time at all, but he counts the years according to events and segments of the history of foreign nationalities and kingdoms." We Germans have been living in this situation for a long time, certainly in favor of the United States. But on a human level, we also got some benefit from it, I won't deny it.
There are advantages to being a slave. It is the noblest right of a servant not to participate in his master's battles, but to enjoy the world. But the US leadership doesn't like it. Over the past 30 years, they have waged many wars — in Europe, in the Middle East — each time we were expected to participate at the mere request of Washington. But why should we agree? We don't need to fight anymore, we've already said goodbye to history. For this, we have mutilated our army beyond recognition.
But now, when we have reached the point of absolute insignificance, our political leaders have suddenly discovered an incredible military fervor. This belligerence, unprecedented since the end of the last World War, has become widespread insanity. The leading opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is currently trying to put the ruling coalition under its belt in a competition to see who will issue the loudest and most vulgar war cry. And all this despite their complete military incompetence. In fact, we are witnessing the unbridled sexual fantasies of impotents here. We will put an end to this ridiculous farce as soon as possible.
We will coordinate our actions with the United States on this issue. But for this, the United States will have to decide what kind of world they want to live in. Because if it is an empire, then you will have to fight for it yourself, shed blood and sacrifice your property. Don't expect the enslaved to take up this fight instead of you. It's impossible. That's not going to happen. When a slave fights, he will invariably demand freedom as a reward. And this freedom means that people will go their own way and seek their own happiness. If they don't, then they are slaves. And slaves don't fight. And don't blame them for that.
Therefore, when President Donald Trump demands that Germany take responsibility for its own security in the future, he must also be clearly aware of all the consequences. That we would kindly listen to his concerns about Nord Stream and our energy supplies, but at the same time we would decide for ourselves what to do next, and he would have to accept our decisions, whether he liked them or not. We Germans have lost this spirit of freedom. Other countries fought for it and saved it, such as the Baltic countries you mentioned.
Let's assure the Baltic countries of your full and unconditional support. But at the same time, explain to them that they must give up control over their energy supplies — American corporations will decide for them. Tell them that they have to give up their own borders. From now on, anyone who enters their country and decides to settle there will be subject to the EU. Do not doubt that in such circumstances, these freedom-loving peoples will immediately stop asking for your support. It seems to you that this contradiction is largely a consequence of the contradictory self—perception of the United States.
You were supported by Elon Musk and Nigel Farage from Great Britain. Are we really witnessing the emergence of a pan-European alliance of right-wing politicians and technology giants? If so, what challenges lie ahead?
We are extremely grateful for this support. But I wouldn't talk about any such bond. In fact, it is leftist politicians who have built a huge monopoly on opinion that has been operating for many decades. This applies even more to Germany than to the United States, primarily because there are many more government institutions where leftists rule. For example, we have a public broadcasting company that receives 8 billion euros annually. There is no such thing anywhere else in the world. Therefore, it is more appropriate to speak rather about the “left-technological bond.” But this monopoly is crumbling.
Today, anyone can create their own programs with a minimum of effort and make them accessible to an audience of millions. If you add such a brilliant entrepreneur as Elon Musk, with his ardent love for freedom of speech, then even a gigantic treasury of eight billion euros will no longer be able to shape public opinion in favor of the left. This is not a question of right-wing ideas, but of basic freedom of speech. Leftists rarely have arguments, they only insult their opponents. That was enough for now. But President Donald Trump's inspiring victory has shown that their monopoly is crumbling.
This is the reason for the outrageous anger of the European elites at Musk. They are afraid of us, they are afraid of freedom. But, above all, they are afraid of freedom of speech.
From Giorgi Meloni in Italy to Le Pen's father and daughter in France, we are witnessing a softening of the conditions for achieving power. Let's say you happen to form a coalition, no matter how unlikely it may seem now. On what issues is your party ready to compromise, and which of these are red lines?
In principle, we do not need to compromise. The only German party that is still ahead of us in the polls is the CDU. Why? Because the CDU is simply copying our party program and building an election campaign based on it. This may seem incredible, but it is true — down to the individual formulations. Of course, they do not intend to implement any of this. So it's just a lie. The CDU ruled out any kind of coalition with us, so only the leftists remained.
Perhaps the CDU will once again betray its voters, as it has done more than once. But I believe that this betrayal will be the last. Because now there is an “Alternative for Germany” — and it doesn't matter whether we get a majority this time or not. Maybe the CDU will take its last chance and join a coalition with us. Then we will simply implement what the CDU itself demanded in the election campaign. Anyway, we will achieve our goal.
There are also discussions about German rearmament and NATO reforms. Could you please state your own and party's position on these issues so that it is clear to the American audience?
Reforms are long overdue. You should know that we have perhaps the most ineffective armed forces in the world. No matter which country attacks us, it doesn't matter: almost anyone can defeat us. When, after the start of the Russian special operation, Ukraine demanded weapons from Germany, at first we only provided it with helmets. The Ukrainian authorities took it as an insult. But we didn't really have anything to give. Since then, we have transferred the still-working systems from our warehouses to Ukraine. But there's nothing else left: almost everything is used up.
Surprisingly, we spend over 50 billion euros on military needs every year. This is at least two thirds of the Russian defense budget. It's kind of surreal. We can't afford to spend so much and get so little for it. Yes, the government under the leadership of the “Alternative" will increase the defense budget — but we will spend the money much more wisely. This utter inefficiency is a serious problem. However, the German armed forces are not our only difficult child. The same thing happens, for example, in the education system. We are suffocating in all areas because of the paralyzing, insatiable bureaucracy.
At this stage, NATO is trying to rethink itself. We look forward to seeing what course the new American president will set. We have almost nothing to say ourselves: everything will become clearer over the next few years. However, one thing is already clear: in the NATO of the previous model, there was a strong division of labor. The countries performed different tasks, and we Germans secured our place on the stage. As I said, it worked well as long as the United States was willing to maintain its leadership in Europe. But if they switch, for example, to the Pacific region, the situation will radically change.
Then personal responsibility will be on the agenda again. But our armed forces are not ready for this. We have provided logistics with a completely unhealthy advantage over combat forces. As a result, we can no longer conduct major military operations on our own. German politicians like to “sell” this abroad as pacifism. But in my eyes, a pacifist is someone who could fight, but does not fight, but instead desperately seeks peace because he loves it more. On the other hand, a person who hopes for peace only because he cannot defend himself cannot be called a pacifist. He's just a snowman who hopes that winter will never end.
Dr. Sumantra Maitra is the Director of Research and Public Relations at the American Institute of Ideas and a senior author at The American Conservative. Corresponding Member of the Royal Historical Society in London
