Alternative for Germany

In September 2012, Alexander Gauland, Bernd Lucke, and the journalist Konrad Adam founded the political group Electoral Alternative 2013 ({{langx|de|Wahlalternative 2013}}) in Bad Nauheim, to oppose German federal policies concerning the eurozone crisis, and to confront German-supported bailouts for poorer southern European countries.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37271971 |title=Why AFD was created |date=4 September 2016 |website=BBC World news |access-date=4 September 2016 |archive-date=4 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904191338/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37271971 |url-status=live }} Their manifesto was endorsed by several economists, journalists, and business leaders, and stated that the eurozone had proven to be "unsuitable" as a currency area and that southern European states were "sinking into poverty under the competitive pressure of the euro".{{cite news |title=Anti-Euro-Partei geißelt die Politik der Kanzlerin |trans-title=Anti-euro party lashes out at politics of Chancellor Merkel |language=de |first=Günther |last=Lachmann |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article114091447/Anti-Euro-Partei-geisselt-die-Politik-der-Kanzlerin.html |work=Die Welt |date=3 March 2013 |access-date=2 May 2013 |quote='Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland ist in der schwersten Krise ihrer Geschichte. Das Euro-Währungsgebiet hat sich als ungeeignet erwiesen. Südeuropäische Staaten verarmen unter dem Wettbewerbsdruck des Euro. Ganze Staaten stehen am Rande der Zahlungsunfähigkeit.' |trans-quote=The Federal Republic of Germany is in the gravest crisis of its history. The euro currency area has shown itself to be unfit for purpose. Countries in southern Europe are sinking into poverty under the competitive pressure of the euro. Whole countries are on the brink of bankruptcy. |archive-date=5 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205090051/https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article114091447/Anti-Euro-Partei-geisselt-die-Politik-der-Kanzlerin.html |url-status=live}}

Some candidates of what would become AfD sought election in Lower Saxony as part of the Electoral Alternative 2013 in alliance with the Free Voters, an association participating in local elections without specific federal or foreign policies, and received 1% of the vote.{{cite web |last=Frymark |first=Kamil |title=German Euro-sceptics to establish a political party |url=http://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/ceweekly/2013-04-10/german-eurosceptics-to-establish-a-political-party |access-date=22 May 2013 |publisher=Centre for Eastern Studies |date=10 April 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130705200030/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.osw.waw.pl%2Fen%2Fpublikacje%2Fceweekly%2F2013-04-10%2Fgerman-eurosceptics-to-establish-a-political-party |archive-date=5 July 2013 |url-status=dead}} In February 2013, the group decided to found a new party to compete in the 2013 federal election; according to a leaked email from Lucke, the Free Voters leadership declined to join forces.{{cite web |title=Here comes ... the German Anti-Euro Party |url=http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/here-comes-german-anti-euro-party.html |access-date=21 May 2013 |publisher=Open Europe |date=28 February 2013 |archive-date=29 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929183904/http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/here-comes-german-anti-euro-party.html |url-status=live}}

File:Konrad Adam, Frauke Petry und Bernd Lucke 2013.jpg

The party was founded on 6 February 2013. On 14 April 2013, the AfD announced its presence to the wider public when it held its first convention in Berlin, elected the party leadership, and adopted a party platform. Bernd Lucke,{{cite news |title=Southern Europe out of euro says Alternative For Germany |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-22889071 |access-date=16 June 2013 |website=BBC Daily Politics |date=13 June 2013 |archive-date=16 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616023632/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22889071 |url-status=live}} the entrepreneur Frauke Petry and Konrad Adam were elected as speakers.{{Cite news |language=de |first=Joachim |last=Jahn |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/wirtschaftspolitik/gruendungsparteitag-der-afd-aufstand-gegen-merkels-alternativlose-politik-12148549.html |title=Aufstand gegen Merkels 'alternativlose Politik' |trans-title=Uprising Against Merkel's 'No Alternative Politics' |work=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung |date=14 April 2013 |access-date=2 June 2020|archive-date=28 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028182441/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/wirtschaftspolitik/gruendungsparteitag-der-afd-aufstand-gegen-merkels-alternativlose-politik-12148549.html |url-status=live}}
{{Cite news |first=Jeevan |last=Vasagar |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/9993390/1000-Germans-abandon-Angela-Merkel-for-Eurosceptic-party.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/9993390/1000-Germans-abandon-Angela-Merkel-for-Eurosceptic-party.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=1,000 Germans abandon Angela Merkel for Eurosceptic party |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=14 April 2013}}{{cbignore}} AfD's federal board also chose Alexander Gauland, Roland Klaus, and Patricia Casale as its three deputy speakers. The party elected the treasurer Norbert Stenzel and the three assessors Irina Smirnova, Beatrix Diefenbach, and Wolf-Joachim Schünemann. The economist Joachim Starbatty, along with {{ill|Jörn Kruse|de}}, {{ill|Helga Luckenbach|de}}, {{ill|Dirk Meyer (Ökonom)|lt=Dirk Meyer|de}}, and {{ill|Roland Vaubel|de}}, were elected to the party's scientific advisory board. Between 31 March and 12 May 2013 AfD founded affiliates in all 16 states of Germany in order to participate in the federal elections. On 15 June 2013 the Young Alternative for Germany was founded in Darmstadt as the AfD's youth organisation.{{cite news |title=Bernd Lucke und die wilde Jugend |trans-title=Bernd Lucke and the wild youth |url=http://www.n24.de/n24/Nachrichten/Politik/d/4900908/bernd-lucke-und-die-wilde-jugend.html |access-date=2 July 2014 |publisher=N24 |date=13 June 2014 |language=de |archive-date=17 August 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140817114621/http://www.n24.de/n24/Nachrichten/Politik/d/4900908/bernd-lucke-und-die-wilde-jugend.html |url-status=live}} During the British prime minister David Cameron's visit to Germany in April 2013, the British Conservative Party was reported to have contacted both AfD and the Free Voters to discuss possible cooperation, supported by the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group of the European Parliament.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/9990805/Tories-build-secret-alliance-with-Eurosceptics-behind-Merkels-back.html |title=Tories build secret alliance with Eurosceptics behind Merkel's back |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916070333/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/9990805/Tories-build-secret-alliance-with-Eurosceptics-behind-Merkels-back.html |archive-date=16 September 2021 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=12 April 2013}} In June 2013 Bernd Lucke gave a question and answer session organized by the Conservative Party-allied Bruges Group think tank in Portcullis House, London.{{cite web|title=Germany and the euro – with Professor Bernd Lucke |url=http://www.brugesgroup.com/eu/germany-and-the-euro-with-professor-bernd-lucke.htm?xp=event |publisher=The Bruges Group |access-date=22 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613190257/http://www.brugesgroup.com/eu/germany-and-the-euro-with-professor-bernd-lucke.htm |archive-date=13 June 2013 |url-status=dead}} In a detailed report in the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in April 2013, the paper's Berlin-based political correspondent Majid Sattar revealed that the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and CDU had conducted opposition research to blunt the growth and attraction of AfD.{{cite web |last=Weinthal |first=Benjamin |title=The Rise of Germany's Tea Party |url=http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/the-rise-of-germanys-tea-party/ |access-date=22 May 2013 |publisher=Foundation for Defense of Democracies |date=3 May 2013 |archive-date=5 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805181413/http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/the-rise-of-germanys-tea-party/ |url-status=live}}

Advocating the abolition of the euro, AfD took a more radical stance than the Free Voters.{{cite news |last=Pop |first=Valentina |title=New anti-euro party forms in Germany |url=http://euobserver.com/political/119366 |access-date=21 May 2013 |work=EUobserver |date=12 March 2013 |archive-date=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316222124/https://euobserver.com/political/119366 |url-status=live}} The Pirate Party Germany opposed any coalition with AfD at their 2013 spring convention.{{cite news |last=Scholz |first=Kay-Alexander |title=German Pirate Party in uncharted waters |url=http://www.dw.de/german-pirate-party-in-uncharted-waters/a-16808133 |access-date=24 May 2013 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=13 May 2013 |archive-date=27 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427054451/http://www.dw.de/german-pirate-party-in-uncharted-waters/a-16808133 |url-status=live}} The AfD's initial supporters were the same prominent economists, business leaders, and journalists who had supported the Electoral Alternative 2013, including former members of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), who had previously challenged the constitutionality of the German government's eurozone policies at the Federal Constitutional Court.{{Cite news |first=Tony |last=Czuczka |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-04/german-euro-foes-to-found-party-in-merkel-election-challenge.html |title=German Euro Foes to Found Party in Merkel Election Challenge |work=Bloomberg |date=4 March 2013 |access-date=5 March 2017 |archive-date=28 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228140318/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-04/german-euro-foes-to-found-party-in-merkel-election-challenge.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news |language=de |first=Winand von |last=Petersdorff-Campen |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/europas-schuldenkrise/alternative-fuer-deutschland-die-neue-anti-euro-partei-12100436.html |title=Die neue Anti-Euro-Partei |trans-title=The new anti-Euro party |work=Frankfurter Allgemeine |date=4 March 2013 |access-date=2 June 2020 |archive-date=26 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826202117/http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/europas-schuldenkrise/alternative-fuer-deutschland-die-neue-anti-euro-partei-12100436.html |url-status=live}}{{cite web |first=Matthew |last=Boesler |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-alternative-for-germany-2013-3 |title=A small band of German professors is the hottest new threat to the future of the Euro |website=Business Insider |date=4 March 2013 |access-date=11 March 2013 |archive-date=21 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721204901/https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-alternative-for-germany-2013-3 |url-status=live}} AfD did not regard itself as a splinter party from the CDU, as its early membership also contained a former state leader from the Free Democratic Party and members of the Federation of Independent Voters, a pressure group of independents and small business owners.

{{further|2013 German federal election|2014 European Parliament election in Germany }}

File:Btw13 afd zweit endgueltig.svg

On 22 September 2013 AfD won 4.7% of the votes in the 2013 federal election, just missing the 5% barrier to enter the Bundestag. The party won about 2 million party list votes and 810,000 constituency votes, which was 1.9% of the total of these votes cast across Germany.{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-euroskeptic-party-afd-could-unravel-after-election-a-924498.html |title=German Euroskeptic Party AFD Could Unravel After Election |work=Der Spiegel |date=25 September 2013 |access-date=27 December 2013 |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517041944/https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-euroskeptic-party-afd-could-unravel-after-election-a-924498.html |url-status=live}}

AfD did not participate in the 2013 Bavaria state election held on 15 September. The party gained parliamentary representation for the first time in the state parliament of Hesse, with the defection of Jochen Paulus from the Free Democratic Party to AfD in early May 2013;{{cite news |last=Paulick |first=Jane |title=German Euro-Skeptic Party Gaining Ground |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/new-party-alternative-for-germany-draws-new-members-away-from-rivals-a-898524.html |access-date=8 May 2013 |work=Der Spiegel |date=5 May 2013 |archive-date=23 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723131912/https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/new-party-alternative-for-germany-draws-new-members-away-from-rivals-a-898524.html |url-status=live}} he was not re-elected and left office in January 2014.{{cite web |url=http://www.hna.de/lokales/rotenburg-bebra/ex-abgeordneter-jochen-paulus-acht-monate-landtag-gefehlt-3407372.html |title=Ex-Abgeordneter fehlte acht Monate im Landtag – keine Sanktionen |trans-title=Former MP was absent from the state parliament for eight months – no sanctions |last=Janz |first=Marcus |work=Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine |language=de |date=10 March 2014 |access-date=17 February 2015 |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517041948/https://www.hna.de/lokales/rotenburg-bebra/ex-abgeordneter-jochen-paulus-acht-monate-landtag-gefehlt-3407372.html |url-status=live}} In the 2013 Hesse state election held on 22 September, the same day as the 2013 federal election, AfD failed to gain representation with just 4% of the vote.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

File:Wahlplakat 2013 AfD 01.JPG

In early 2014, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled the proposed 3% vote hurdle for representation in the European elections unconstitutional, and the 2014 European Parliament election became the first run in Germany without a barrier for representation.{{cite news |last1=Demuth |first1=Norbert |title=Germany's top court scraps 3 percent vote threshold for EU poll |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-election-court-idUSBREA1P0RE20140226 |access-date=20 September 2014 |work=Reuters |date=26 February 2014 |archive-date=29 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529232026/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-election-court-idUSBREA1P0RE20140226 |url-status=live}}

AfD held a party conference on 25 January 2014 at Frankenstolz Arena, Aschaffenburg, northwest Bavaria. The conference chose the slogan {{lang|de|Mut zu Deutschland}} ("Courage [to stand up] for Germany") to replace the former slogan {{lang|de|Mut zur Wahrheit}} ({{lit|Courage [to speak] the truth}}, or more succinctly, "Telling it as it is"), which prompted disagreement among the federal board that the party could be seen as too anti-European. A compromise was reached by using the slogan "MUT ZU D*EU*TSCHLAND", with the "EU" in "DEUTSCHLAND" encircled by the 12 stars of the European flag.{{cite news |last=Lachmann |first=Günther |title=Wie die AfD ihr inhaltliches Vakuum füllen will |trans-title=How the AfD wants to fill its content vacuum |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article124246810/Wie-die-AfD-ihr-inhaltliches-Vakuum-fuellen-will.html |access-date=2 February 2014 |work=Die Welt |date=26 January 2014 |language=de |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404200803/https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article124246810/Wie-die-AfD-ihr-inhaltliches-Vakuum-fuellen-will.html|url-status=live}} The conference elected the top six candidates for the European elections on 26 January 2014 and met again the following weekend to choose the remaining euro candidates.{{cite news |last=Benzow |first=Gregg |title=Germany's euroskeptic party revamps its image |url=http://www.dw.de/germanys-euroskeptic-party-revamps-its-image/a-17388048 |access-date=29 January 2014|work=Deutsche Welle |date=26 January 2014 |archive-date=27 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427043438/http://www.dw.de/germanys-euroskeptic-party-revamps-its-image/a-17388048 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Czygan |first=Michael |title=Die Alternative für Deutschland nominiert in Aschaffenburg Kandidaten für Europa |trans-title=The Alternative for Germany nominates candidates for Europe in Aschaffenburg |url=http://www.mainpost.de/ueberregional/politik/zeitgeschehen/Henkel-und-die-Ehrenmaenner;art16698,7922609 |access-date=2 February 2014 |work=Main Post |date=26 January 2014 |language=de |archive-date=24 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924094821/https://www.mainpost.de/ueberregional/politik/zeitgeschehen/Henkel-und-die-Ehrenmaenner;art16698,7922609 |url-status=dead}} Candidates from 7th–28th place on the party list were selected in Berlin on 1 February.{{cite web |title=Unsere Kandidaten für Europa |trans-title=Our candidates for Europe |url=https://www.afd.de/europawahl/kandidaten-fuer-europa/ |publisher=Alternative für Deutschland |access-date=3 February 2014 |language=de}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Party chairman Bernd Lucke was elected as lead candidate.

In February 2014, AfD officials said they had discussed alliances with the British anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP), which Lucke and the federal board of AfD opposed, and also with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, to which Britain's Conservative Party belongs.{{cite news |last=Marsh |first=Sarah |title=German anti-euro party says won't team up with xenophobes |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-summit-afd-idUSBREA1C0FI20140213 |access-date=21 May 2014 |work=Reuters |date=13 February 2014 |archive-date=5 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205234459/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-summit-afd-idUSBREA1C0FI20140213 |url-status=live}} In April 2014 Hans-Olaf Henkel, AfD's second candidate on the European election list, ruled out forming a group with UKIP.{{cite news |last=Waterfield |first=Bruno |title=EU elections: German Eurosceptics snub 'ridiculous' Ukip |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/10784826/EU-elections-German-Eurosceptics-snub-ridiculous-Ukip.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/10784826/EU-elections-German-Eurosceptics-snub-ridiculous-Ukip.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=21 May 2014 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=24 April 2014}}{{cbignore}} stating that he saw the Conservatives as the preferred partner in the European Parliament. On 10 May 2014 Lucke had been in talks with the Czech and Polish member parties of the ECR group.{{cite news |last=Barker |first=Alex |title=David Cameron's European Parliament group fights for survival |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1dc4fa80-d772-11e3-a47c-00144feabdc0.html |access-date=26 May 2014 |work=Financial Times |date=11 May 2014 |archive-date=23 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723190905/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1dc4fa80-d772-11e3-a47c-00144feabdc0.html |url-status=live}}

File:Alternative Für Deutschland election poster.jpg

In the 2014 European Parliament election on 25 May, AfD came in fifth place in Germany, with 7.1% of the national vote (2,065,162 votes), and seven Members of the European parliament (MEPs).{{cite web|url=http://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/de/europawahlen/EU_BUND_14/ergebnisse/bundesergebnisse/ |title=Endgültiges Ergebnis der Europawahl 2014 |language=de |trans-title=Final result of the 2014 European elections |author=Der Bundeswahlleiter |date=n.d. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705072802/http://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/de/europawahlen/EU_BUND_14/ergebnisse/bundesergebnisse/ |archive-date=5 July 2015 }} On 12 June 2014, it was announced that AfD had been accepted into the ECR group in the European Parliament.{{cite news|last1=Nicolaou|first1=Anna|last2=Barker|first2=Luke|title=Anti-euro German AfD joins Cameron's EU parliament group|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-britain-parliament-idUSKBN0EN0ZK20140612|access-date=12 June 2014|work=Reuters|date=12 June 2014|archive-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306112848/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-britain-parliament-idUSKBN0EN0ZK20140612|url-status=live}} The official vote result was not released to the public, but figures of 29 votes for and 26 against were reported by the membership. The inclusion of AfD in the ECR group was said to have caused mild tensions between the German chancellor Angela Merkel and the British prime minister David Cameron.

On 31 August AfD received 9.7% of the vote in the 2014 Saxony state election,{{cite web|title=Landtagswahl 2014|url=http://www.statistik.sachsen.de/wpr_neu/pkg_s10_erg_lw.prc_erg_lw?p_bz_bzid=LW14&p_ebene=SN&p_ort=14|publisher=Free State of Saxony|access-date=1 September 2014|language=de|archive-date=21 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421050452/https://www.statistik.sachsen.de/wpr_neu/pkg_s10_erg_lw.prc_erg_lw?p_bz_bzid=LW14&p_ebene=SN&p_ort=14|url-status=live}} winning 14 seats in the Landtag of Saxony.{{cite news|last1=Torry|first1=Harriet|title=Alternative for Germany Party Takes Its First Seats in a State Parliament|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/alternative-for-germany-party-takes-its-first-seats-in-a-state-parliament-1409505689|access-date=31 August 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=31 August 2014|archive-date=17 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517041959/https://www.wsj.com/articles/alternative-for-germany-party-takes-its-first-seats-in-a-state-parliament-1409505689|url-status=live}} On 14 September, AfD obtained 10.6% of the vote in the 2014 Thuringian and 12.2% in the Brandenburg state election, winning 11 seats in both state parliaments.{{cite news|title=Anti-euro party makes big leap in Thuringia, Brandenburg state elections|url=http://www.dw.de/anti-euro-party-makes-big-leap-in-thuringia-brandenburg-state-elections/a-17921282|access-date=20 September 2014|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=14 September 2014|archive-date=27 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427042843/http://www.dw.de/anti-euro-party-makes-big-leap-in-thuringia-brandenburg-state-elections/a-17921282|url-status=live}}

On 15 February 2015 AfD won 6.1% of the vote in the Hamburg state election, gaining the mandate for eight seats in the Hamburg Parliament,{{cite news |last1=Exner |first1=Ulrich |last2=Sturm |first2=Daniel Friedrich |title=Wer bei Scholz Führung bestellt, wird sie bekommen |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article137487106/Wer-bei-Scholz-Fuehrung-bestellt-wird-sie-bekommen.html |access-date=15 February 2015 |work=Die Welt |date=15 February 2015 |language=de |archive-date=25 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525125910/https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article137487106/Wer-bei-Scholz-Fuehrung-bestellt-wird-sie-bekommen.html |url-status=live }} winning their first seats in a western German state. On 10 May 2015, AfD secured in the 5.5% of the vote in the 2015 Bremen state election gaining representation in their fifth state parliament on a 50% turnout.{{cite news|title=Setback for SPD after narrow win in Bremen|url=http://www.dw.de/setback-for-spd-after-narrow-win-in-bremen/a-18442780|access-date=11 May 2015|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=11 May 2015|archive-date=18 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518081714/http://www.dw.de/setback-for-spd-after-narrow-win-in-bremen/a-18442780|url-status=live}}

After months of factional infighting and a cancelled party gathering in June 2015, Frauke Petry was elected on 4 July 2015 as the de facto principal speaker of the party with 60% of the member votes ahead of Bernd Lucke at a party congress in Essen.{{cite web |title=Germany's Far-Right Populists Have an Infighting Problem |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/09/germany-afd-petry-populist-merkel-election/540444/ |publisher=The Atlantic |date=22 September 2017 |access-date=27 September 2017 |archive-date=28 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928005315/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/09/germany-afd-petry-populist-merkel-election/540444/ |url-status=live }} Petry was a member of the national-conservative faction of AfD.{{cite news |title=Germany's euroskeptic AfD elects conservative leader Petry |publisher=Deutsche Welle |date=4 July 2015 |url=http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-euroskeptic-afd-elects-conservative-leader-petry/a-18561912 |access-date=5 July 2015 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181825/http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-euroskeptic-afd-elects-conservative-leader-petry/a-18561912 |url-status=live }} Her leadership was widely seen as heralding a shift of the party to the right to focus more on issues such as immigration, Islam, and strengthening ties to Russia, a shift which was claimed by Lucke as turning the party into a "Pegida party".{{cite news|last1=Schneider|first1=Jens|title=Lucke und der Auszug der Gemäßigten|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/afd-vor-spaltung-lucke-und-der-auszug-der-gemaessigten-1.2553174|access-date=6 July 2015|work=Süddeutsche Zeitung|date=6 July 2015|language=de|archive-date=23 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723164857/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/afd-vor-spaltung-lucke-und-der-auszug-der-gemaessigten-1.2553174|url-status=live}} In the following week, five MEPs exited the party on 7 July, the only remaining MEPs being Beatrix von Storch and Marcus Pretzell,{{cite news|title=Nach 'Richtungsentscheidung' AfD meldet Hunderte Austritte|url=http://www.n-tv.de/politik/AfD-meldet-Hunderte-Austritte-article15461321.html|access-date=9 July 2015|publisher=N-TV|date=7 July 2015|language=de|archive-date=20 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520110126/http://www.n-tv.de/politik/AfD-meldet-Hunderte-Austritte-article15461321.html|url-status=live}} and Lucke announced on 8 July 2015 that he was resigning from AfD, citing the rise of xenophobic and pro-Russian sentiments in the party.{{cite news|last1=Barkin|first1=Noah|title=German AfD founder leaves party decrying xenophobic shift|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-politics-eurosceptics-idUSKCN0PI25720150708|access-date=9 July 2015|work=Reuters|date=8 July 2015|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222095319/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-politics-eurosceptics-idUSKCN0PI25720150708|url-status=live}} At a meeting of members of the Wake-up call (Weckruf 2015) group on 19 July 2015, AfD founder Bernd Lucke and former AfD members announced they would form a new party, the Alliance for Progress and Renewal, under the founding principles of AfD.{{cite news|title=Ousted chief of Germany's euroskeptic AfD sets up new political party|url=http://www.dw.com/en/ousted-chief-of-germanys-euroskeptic-afd-sets-up-new-political-party/a-18594891|access-date=20 July 2015|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=19 July 2015|archive-date=14 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314032527/http://www.dw.com/en/ousted-chief-of-germanys-euroskeptic-afd-sets-up-new-political-party/a-18594891|url-status=live}} The split off party was eventually renamed the Liberal Conservative Reformers, but had little electoral success.{{cite web |date=19 July 2015 |title=Ex-chief of German anti-euro party starts new eurosceptic group |url=https://news.yahoo.com/ex-chief-german-anti-euro-party-starts-eurosceptic-192500351.html |work=Yahoo News |agency=Agence France-Presse |access-date=12 May 2023 |archive-date=12 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412111649/https://news.yahoo.com/ex-chief-german-anti-euro-party-starts-eurosceptic-192500351.html |url-status=live }}

In February 2016, AfD announced a cooperation pact with the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ).{{cite news |url=http://derstandard.at/2000031396307/Deutsche-AfD-und-FPOe-beschliessen-Zusammenarbeit |title=Deutsche AfD und FPÖ beschließen Zusammenarbeit |language=de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520101805/https://derstandard.at/2000031396307/Deutsche-AfD-und-FPOe-beschliessen-Zusammenarbeit |archive-date=20 May 2019 |work=Der Standard |access-date=19 February 2016}} On 8 March 2016, the bureau of the ECR group began motions to exclude AfD from their group due to its links with the far-right FPÖ,{{cite news |last=Crisp |first=James |url=http://www.euractiv.com/section/social-europe-jobs/news/afd-links-to-austrian-far-right-final-straw-for-ecr-meps/ |title=AfD links to Austrian far-right 'final straw' for ECR MEPs |date=9 March 2016 |work=Euractiv |access-date=13 March 2016 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404133929/https://www.euractiv.com/section/social-europe-jobs/news/afd-links-to-austrian-far-right-final-straw-for-ecr-meps/ |url-status=live }} inviting the two remaining AfD MEPs to leave the group by 31 March, with a motion of exclusion to be tabled on 12 April if they refuse to leave voluntarily.{{cite web |first=Peter |last=Teffer |title=EU parliament group tells German AfD party to leave |magazine=EU Observer |url=https://euobserver.com/political/132619 |date=9 March 2016 |access-date=13 April 2016 |archive-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327063616/https://euobserver.com/political/132619 |url-status=live }} While von Storch left the ECR group on 8 April to join the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group,{{cite web |first=Peter |last=Teffer |title=Right-wing German MEP quits parliament group |magazine=EU Observer |url=https://euobserver.com/political/132982 |date=8 April 2016 |access-date=13 April 2016 |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401074116/https://euobserver.com/political/132982 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}{{cite web |title=German far-right MEP joins UKIP's parliamentary group |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/german-far-right-mep-joins-ukips-parliamentary-group |first=Cynthia |last=Kroet |work=Politico |date=8 April 2016 |access-date=1 June 2025}} Pretzell let himself be expelled on 12 April.{{cite web |title=German AfD lawmaker evicted from conservative group in EU legislature |publisher=Europe online |url=http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/german-afd-lawmaker-evicted-from-conservative-group-in-eu-legislature_449694.html |date=12 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423203914/http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/german-afd-lawmaker-evicted-from-conservative-group-in-eu-legislature_449694.html|archive-date=23 April 2016}}

With the European migrant crisis remaining the dominant national issue, elections on 13 March were held in the three states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saxony-Anhalt, and saw the AfD receiving double-digit percentages of the vote in all three states.{{cite news |last=Oltermann |first=Philip |title=Anti-refugee AfD party makes big gains in German state elections |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/13/anti-refugee-party-makes-big-gains-in-german-state-elections |date=13 March 2016 |access-date=14 March 2016 |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517041950/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/13/anti-refugee-party-makes-big-gains-in-german-state-elections |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/landtagswahlen-2016-die-sechs-datenanalysen-zur-wahl-a-1082240.html |title=Landtagswahlen 2016: Die sechs Datenanalysen zur Wahl |language=de |date=14 March 2016 |work=Der Spiegel |access-date=14 March 2016 |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517042304/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/landtagswahlen-2016-die-sechs-datenanalysen-zur-wahl-a-1082240.html |url-status=live}} In the 2016 Saxony-Anhalt state election, AfD reached second place in the Landtag, receiving 24.2% of the vote. In the 2016 Baden-Württemberg state election, AfD achieved third place, with 15.1% of the vote. In the 2016 Rhineland-Palatinate state election, AfD again reached third place, with 12.6% of the vote. In Angela Merkel's home state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, her CDU was beaten into third place following a strong showing of AfD, who contested at state level for the first time, to claim the second-highest polling with 20.8% of the vote in the 2016 state election.{{cite news |first=Geir |last=Moulson |url=https://apnews.com/general-news-3dd6fc9b2add4ece8683754554cfeda4 |title=Nationalists overtake Merkel's party in German state vote |work=Associated Press |date=4 September 2016 |access-date=27 December 2021 |quote=The three-year-old Alternative for Germany, or AfD, won 21 to 22 percent of votes in the election for the state legislature in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, according to projections for ARD and ZDF television based on exit polls and partial counting. They put support for Merkel's Christian Democrats between 19 and 20 percent, their worst result yet in the state. |archive-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327063616/https://apnews.com/article/3dd6fc9b2add4ece8683754554cfeda4 |url-status=live}} AfD voter support in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania appears to have come from both left-wing and right-wing parties, with support for the Social Democratic Party of Germany down 4.9%, CDU down 4.1%, The Left down 5.2%, Alliance '90/The Greens down 3.9%, and support for the National Democratic Party of Germany (NDP) halved, dropping to 3.0%. Rising support for AfD meant that The Greens and the NDP failed to reach the 5% threshold to qualify for seats in the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and consequently lost their seats. In the 2016 Berlin state election, which AfD also contested for the first time,{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} the party achieved a vote of 14.2%, making them the fifth largest party represented in the state assembly. Their vote seems to have come equally from the SPD and CDU, whose votes declined 6.7% and 5.7%, respectively.{{cite web |url=https://wahl.tagesschau.de/wahlen/2016-09-18-LT-DE-BE/index.shtml |title=Berlin 2016 |date=19 September 2016 |access-date=19 September 2016 |archive-date=18 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918173612/http://wahl.tagesschau.de/wahlen/2016-09-18-LT-DE-BE/index.shtml |url-status=dead}}

At the party congress held on 30 April to 1 May 2016, AfD adopted a policy platform based upon opposition to Islam, calling for the ban of Islamic symbols including burqas, minarets, and adhan (call to prayer), using the slogan "Islam is not a part of Germany".{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/germanys-afd-adopts-anti-islam-stance-at-party-conference-1462120609 |title=Germany's AfD Adopts Anti-Islam Stance at Party Conference |last=Bender |first=Ruth |date=1 May 2016 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=5 March 2017 |archive-date=17 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517235511/https://www.wsj.com/articles/germanys-afd-adopts-anti-islam-stance-at-party-conference-1462120609 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ae9e9a92-0f9d-11e6-839f-2922947098f0.html |title=Germany's AfD party adopts anti-Islamic manifesto |work=Financial Times |date=1 May 2016 |last=Shotter |first=James |access-date=1 May 2016 |archive-date=11 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911053630/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ae9e9a92-0f9d-11e6-839f-2922947098f0.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/alternative-for-germany-anti-immigrant-afd-says-muslims-are-not-welcome-in-germany-a7009531.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503114429/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/alternative-for-germany-anti-immigrant-afd-says-muslims-are-not-welcome-in-germany-a7009531.html |archive-date=3 May 2016 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=Anti-immigrant AfD says Muslims are not welcome in Germany |last=Bellon |first=Tina |date=1 May 2016 |work=The Independent}}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38661621|title=German fury at AfD Hoecke's Holocaust memorial remark |date=18 January 2017 |work=BBC News |access-date=27 December 2021 |archive-date=15 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215213842/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38661621 |url-status=live}}

{{further|2017 German federal election|2021 German federal election}}

File:Btw17afd.svg

File:2017-04-23 AfD Bundesparteitag in Köln -38.jpg in April 2017]]

At the party conference in April 2017, Frauke Petry announced that she would not run as the party's main candidate for the 2017 federal election. This announcement grew out of internal power struggle as the party's support had fallen in polls from 15% in the summer of 2016 to 7% just before the conference. Björn Höcke from the far-right wing of the party and Petry were attempting to push each other out of the party. Petry's decision was partly seen as a step to avoid a vote at the conference on the issue of her standing.{{cite news |last=Huggler |first=Justin |title=German far-right leader stuns party by quitting chancellor race |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/21/german-far-right-leader-stunsparty-quitting-chancellor-race/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/21/german-far-right-leader-stunsparty-quitting-chancellor-race/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=21 April 2017 |access-date=27 December 2021}}{{cbignore}} The party chose Alexander Gauland, a stark conservative who worked as an editor and was a former member of the CDU,{{cite news |last=Wehner |first=Markus |date=28 February 2015 |title=AfD-Vizechef im Porträt – Die drei Leben des Alexander Gauland |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/portraets-personalien/afd-vizechef-die-drei-leben-des-alexander-gauland-13442469.html |work=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung |language=de |access-date=27 December 2021 |archive-date=20 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220035352/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/portraets-personalien/afd-vizechef-die-drei-leben-des-alexander-gauland-13442469.html |url-status=live}} to lead the party in the elections. Gauland supported the retention of Höcke's party membership. Alice Weidel, who is perceived as more moderate and neoliberal, was elected as his running mate.{{cite news |last=Troianovski |first=Anton |title=Head of Germany's Upstart Anti-Immigrant Party Pushed Aside |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/head-of-germanys-upstart-anti-immigrant-party-pushed-aside-1492960872 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=23 April 2017 |access-date=27 December 2021 |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517042304/https://www.wsj.com/articles/head-of-germanys-upstart-anti-immigrant-party-pushed-aside-1492960872 |url-status=live}} The party approved a platform that, according to The Wall Street Journal, "urges Germany to close its borders to asylum applicants, end sanctions on Russia and to leave the EU if Berlin fails to retrieve national sovereignty from Brussels, as well as to amend the country's constitution to allow people born to non-German parents to have their German citizenship revoked if they commit serious crimes."

In the 2017 federal election AfD won 12.6% of the vote and received 94 seats; this was the first time it had won seats in the Bundestag. It won three constituency seats, which would have been enough to qualify for proportionally-elected seats in any event. Under a long-standing law intended to benefit regional parties, any party that wins at least three constituency seats qualifies for its share of proportionally-elected seats, regardless of vote share.{{Cite web |title=Grundmandatsklausel – Die Bundeswahlleiterin |trans-title=Basic Mandate Clause – The Federal Returning Officer |url=https://www.bundeswahlleiterin.de/service/glossar/g/grundmandatsklausel.html |access-date=12 June 2023 |website=Federal Returning Officer |language=de |archive-date=12 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612191650/https://www.bundeswahlleiterin.de/service/glossar/g/grundmandatsklausel.html |url-status=live}}

At a press conference held by AfD the day after the 2017 federal election, Frauke Petry said that she would participate in the Bundestag as an independent; she said she did this because extremist statements by some members made it impossible for AfD to function as a constructive opposition, and to make clear to voters that there is internal dissent in the AfD. She also said that she would be leaving the party at some future date.{{cite news |title=Frauke Petry, co-chair of the far-right AfD, to quit the party |url=http://www.dw.com/en/frauke-petry-co-chair-of-the-far-right-afd-to-quit-the-party/a-40686693 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=26 September 2017 |access-date=27 December 2021 |archive-date=31 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531220452/https://www.dw.com/en/frauke-petry-co-chair-of-the-far-right-afd-to-quit-the-party/a-40686693 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last1=Elwazer |first1=Schams |last2=Clarke |first2=Hilary |date=25 September 2017 |title=German far-right party AfD in disarray|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/europe/german-election-result-afd-walkout/index.html |work=CNN |access-date=27 December 2021 |archive-date=5 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605165340/https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/europe/german-election-result-afd-walkout/index.html |url-status=live}} Petry formed the Blue Party in September 2017. Four members of AfD in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania legislature, including Bernhard Wild, also left the party to form Citizens for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which folded in December 2018. On 6 November 2019 Petry announced that the Blue Party would dissolve by the end of the year.{{Cite news|url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-frauke-petrys-blue-party-dissolves-after-election-routs/a-51127575|title=Germany: Frauke Petry's Blue Party dissolves after election routs|date=6 November 2019|publisher=Deutsche Welle|access-date=27 December 2021|archive-date=6 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106073116/https://www.dw.com/en/germany-frauke-petrys-blue-party-dissolves-after-election-routs/a-51127575|url-status=live}}

In 2018 André Poggenburg, AfD's regional leader of the eastern Saxony-Anhalt state, resigned his post after making racist remarks concerning Turks and immigrants with dual citizenship.{{cite news |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/andre-poggenburgs-ruecktritt-das-sind-die-gruende-a-1197074.html |title=Warum Poggenburg zurücktreten musste |language=de |work=Der Spiegel |date=8 March 2018 |access-date=2 July 2023 |archive-date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702103243/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/andre-poggenburgs-ruecktritt-das-sind-die-gruende-a-1197074.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/ruecktritt-von-andre-poggenburg-wer-glaubt-die-afd-maessigt-sich-liegt-falsch-1.3898777 |title=Wer glaubt, die AfD mäßigt sich, liegt falsch |language=de |first=Ulrike |last=Ninz |work=Süddeutsche Zeitung |date=8 March 2018 |access-date=2 July 2023 |archive-date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702103243/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/ruecktritt-von-andre-poggenburg-wer-glaubt-die-afd-maessigt-sich-liegt-falsch-1.3898777 |url-status=live}} In 2019, Poggenburg started a new far-right party, {{lang|de|Aufbruch deutscher Patrioten – Mitteldeutschland}} (ADPM), which he left in August 2019 after his internal call to dissolve ADPM and to support AfD in the upcoming state elections of fall 2019 was denied.{{cite web |url=https://www.rnd.de/politik/andre-poggenburg-tritt-aus-seiner-rechtsnationalen-partei-adpm-aus-JILAN5EJIVGVHL7ETKDFEMEAZA.html |title=André Poggenburg tritt aus seiner rechtsnationalen Partei ADPM aus |language=de |publisher=RND |date=12 August 2019 |access-date=2 July 2023 |archive-date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702103248/https://www.rnd.de/politik/andre-poggenburg-tritt-aus-seiner-rechtsnationalen-partei-adpm-aus-JILAN5EJIVGVHL7ETKDFEMEAZA.html |url-status=live}}

Ahead of the 2021 federal election, AfD campaigned with the slogan "Germany. But Normal" and took a position of opposing further lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Having moved further right on economic issues and remaining strongly right on socio-cultural issues, despite attempts to normalize, AfD's manifesto for the federal election was deemed to be still too radical for the party to take part in government.{{cite web |last1=Schwichtenberg |first1=Leonie |last2=Zehnter |first2=Lisa |date=2 August 2021 |url=https://democracy.blog.wzb.eu/2021/09/06/das-wahlprogramm-der-partei-die-linke-zur-bundestagswahl-2021/ |title=Das Wahlprogramm der Alternative für Deutschland zur Bundestagswahl 2021 |trans-title=The election manifesto of the Alternative for Germany for the 2021 federal election |website=Democracy |language=de |publisher=Manifesto Project |accessdate=31 October 2021 |archive-date=23 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023165520/https://democracy.blog.wzb.eu/2021/09/06/das-wahlprogramm-der-partei-die-linke-zur-bundestagswahl-2021/ |url-status=live}}

In the federal election, AfD saw a dip in national vote share by getting 10.3% of the vote, compared to 12.6% in 2017; however, the party emerged as the largest in the states of Saxony and Thuringia, and saw a strong performance in eastern Germany.{{cite news |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-far-right-populist-afd-no-gains-small-losses/a-59330183 |title=Germany's far-right populist AfD: No gains, small losses |work=Deutsche Welle |date=27 September 2021 |access-date=31 October 2021 |archive-date=26 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026045438/https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-far-right-populist-afd-no-gains-small-losses/a-59330183 |url-status=live}} The party's results drew a mixed analysis from AfD members and political commentators, the latter of whom attributed the slight decline to visible infighting, whereas AfD candidates such as Alice Weidel blamed media bias against the party. The political scientist Kai Arzheimer commented that the result "wasn't any appreciable increase, but it wasn't a disaster for them." Arzheimer also posited that the result demonstrated that AfD had firmly established itself in German national politics but had not reached beyond its core support. AfD's top candidates Tino Chrupalla and Weidel praised the result as "solid", while party spokesman Jörg Meuthen stated that the party should reevaluate the result and aim on "sending strong signals towards the center" to win back new voters. Meuthen left the party in January 2022.{{Cite web|date=28 January 2022|title=Germany: Far-right AfD co-chair Jörg Meuthen quits party|url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-far-right-afd-co-chair-j%C3%B6rg-meuthen-quits-party/a-60589522|access-date=28 January 2022|website=Deutsche Welle|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128141809/https://www.dw.com/en/germany-far-right-afd-co-chair-j%C3%B6rg-meuthen-quits-party/a-60589522|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Kurmayer|first=Nikolaus J.|date=28 January 2022|title=Far-right AfD chief Jörg Meuthen quits party|url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/far-right-afd-chief-jorg-meuthen-quits-party-amid-ideological-differences/|access-date=28 January 2022|website=Euractiv|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128141809/https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/far-right-afd-chief-jorg-meuthen-quits-party-amid-ideological-differences/|url-status=live}}

AfD held their three seats in the 2022 Saarland state election.{{cite news |title=Germany: SPD maintains winning streak in Saarland vote |date=27 March 2022 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-spd-maintains-winning-streak-in-saarland-vote/a-61271943 |access-date=10 May 2022 |website=Deutsche Welle |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510112407/https://www.dw.com/en/germany-spd-maintains-winning-streak-in-saarland-vote/a-61271943 |url-status=live }} At the same time, they lost all their seats in the 2022 Schleswig-Holstein state election.{{Cite web |last=Martus |first=Theresa |date=9 May 2022 |title=AfD: Machtkämpfe in der Partei – Wird Meuthens Prophezeiung wahr? |url=https://www.morgenpost.de/politik/article235302207/afd-chrupalla-streit-partei-ost-west-schleswig-holstein.html |access-date=10 May 2022 |website=www.morgenpost.de |language=de-DE |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510004907/https://www.morgenpost.de/politik/article235302207/afd-chrupalla-streit-partei-ost-west-schleswig-holstein.html |url-status=live}} In the 2022 Lower Saxony state election in October, AfD won 9 more seats compared to 2017 to a total of 18.{{Cite news |title=Social Democrats win Lower Saxony election |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-lower-saxony-election-a-boost-for-chancellor-olaf-scholz/a-63382759 |access-date=22 October 2022 |work=Deutsche Welle |archive-date=22 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022074435/https://www.dw.com/en/germany-lower-saxony-election-a-boost-for-chancellor-olaf-scholz/a-63382759 |url-status=live}} In the 2023 Berlin repeat state election AfD recorded a small upswing by gaining 4 seats compared to the 2021 election.{{cite news |date=13 February 2023 |title=Berlin: Conservatives projected to win repeated vote |url=https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-conservatives-projected-to-win-repeated-vote/a-64680065 |work=Deutsche Welle |access-date=18 May 2023 |archive-date=13 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213052148/https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-conservatives-projected-to-win-repeated-vote/a-64680065 |url-status=live}} In the 2023 Bremen state election AfD did not participate and lost all their seats, as the Bremen electoral committee had barred AfD from the election due to internal divisions that had resulted in them submitting two lists of candidates. The Citizens in Rage, another right-wing party, participated instead; they received 10 seats (after having only one seat in 2019) in Bremen's state parliament.{{Cite news |last1=Marsh |first1=Sarah |last2=Rinke |first2=Andreas |date=14 May 2023 |title=Scholz's Social Democrats win Bremen state vote, Greens slump |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/bremen-election-may-boost-scholzs-slumping-social-democrats-2023-05-14/ |access-date=18 May 2023 |archive-date=18 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518093052/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/bremen-election-may-boost-scholzs-slumping-social-democrats-2023-05-14/ |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/afd-bremen-buergerschaftswahl-nicht-zugelassen-1.5770636 |title=AfD in Bremen nicht zur Bürgerschaftswahl zugelassen |work=Sueddeutsche Zeitung |date=17 March 2023 |access-date=9 July 2023 |language=de |archive-date=25 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230625194347/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/afd-bremen-buergerschaftswahl-nicht-zugelassen-1.5770636 |url-status=live}} On 25 June 2023, amidst rises in polls,{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/german-party-wins-county-leadership-post-rises-polls-100367965|title=German far-right party wins its first county leadership post as it rises in polls |work=ABC News |agency=Associated Press |date=25 June 2023 |access-date=2 July 2023 |archive-date=27 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627110704/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/german-party-wins-county-leadership-post-rises-polls-100367965 |url-status=live}} Thuringia's AfD won its first district election in Sonneberg.{{cite news |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-far-right-afd-wins-first-governing-post/a-66024256 |title=Germany: Far-right AfD wins first governing post |work=Deutsche Welle |date=25 June 2023 |access-date=2 July 2023 |archive-date=30 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630181533/https://www.dw.com/en/germany-far-right-afd-wins-first-governing-post/a-66024256 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germanys-far-right-afd-wins-vote-lead-district-first-time-2023-06-25/ |title=Germany's far-right AfD wins vote to lead district for first time |work=Reuters |date=26 June 2023 |access-date=2 July 2023 |archive-date=25 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725051204/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germanys-far-right-afd-wins-vote-lead-district-first-time-2023-06-25/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=2 July 2023 |title=Muss Sesselmann gehen? Das sagen die Experten |trans-title=Does Sesselmann have to go? This is what the experts say |url=https://www.fr.de/politik/sonneberg-landrat-demokratie-check-verfassungsschutz-ostdeutschland-experten-muss-sesselmann-gehen-afd-92372686.html |access-date=2 July 2023 |website=Frankfurter Rundschau |language=de |archive-date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702201148/https://www.fr.de/politik/check-verfassungsschutz-ostdeutschland-experten-muss-sesselmann-gehen-afd-sonneberg-landrat-demokratie-92372686.html |url-status=live }} In the run-off election held on 2 July, the AfD candidate {{Ill|Hannes Loth|lt=Hannes Loth|de}} won against the independent politician Nils Naumann,{{Cite web |date=2 July 2023 |trans-title='Voters Want This Part': Head of Federal Agency for Civic Education on AfD |title='Wähler wollen diese Partei': Chef der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung über AfD |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article246172836/Waehler-wollen-diese-Partei-Chef-der-Bundeszentrale-fuer-politische-Bildung-ueber-AfD.html |access-date=2 July 2023 |website=Die Welt |language=de |archive-date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702201148/https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article246172836/Waehler-wollen-diese-Partei-Chef-der-Bundeszentrale-fuer-politische-Bildung-ueber-AfD.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung: AfD-Erfolg ist mehr als 'Protest' |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/afd-erfolg-krueger-100.html |access-date=2 July 2023 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de |archive-date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702201149/https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/afd-erfolg-krueger-100.html |url-status=live }} becoming AfD's first ever mayor.{{Cite web |title=Hannes Loth wird erster hauptamtlicher AfD-Bürgermeister in Deutschland |url=https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen-anhalt/dessau/bitterfeld/stichwahl-raguhn-jessnitz-loth-afd-naumann-parteilos-100.html |access-date=2 July 2023 |website=MDR.DE |language=de |archive-date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702201149/https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen-anhalt/dessau/bitterfeld/stichwahl-raguhn-jessnitz-loth-afd-naumann-parteilos-100.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=2 July 2023 |title=Sachsen-Anhalt: Erster AfD-Bürgermeister Deutschlands in Raguhn-Jeßnitz gewählt |language=de |work=Der Spiegel |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/sachsen-anhalt-erster-afd-buergermeister-in-raguhn-jessnitz-a-cee5f868-c1ea-4dce-bcd8-aa7f1838b0a0 |access-date=2 July 2023 |issn=2195-1349 |archive-date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702201149/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/sachsen-anhalt-erster-afd-buergermeister-in-raguhn-jessnitz-a-cee5f868-c1ea-4dce-bcd8-aa7f1838b0a0 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |work=Deutschlandfunk|title=Sachsen-Anhalt – Deutschlandweit erster AfD-Bürgermeister in Raguhn-Jeßnitz |url=https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/deutschlandweit-erster-afd-buergermeister-in-raguhn-jessnitz-100.html |access-date=2 July 2023 |date=2 July 2023 |language=de |archive-date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702201150/https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/deutschlandweit-erster-afd-buergermeister-in-raguhn-jessnitz-100.html |url-status=live }}

On 8 October state elections, AfD significantly increased its share in Hesse where it became the second-biggest party (+9 seats) and in Bavaria, where it became the third (+10 seats).

Observers considered the increase of support for the AfD as not being limited to the local level. Opinion polling for the 2025 German federal election conducted in early July 2023 showed that the AfD polled more than the SPD, achieving second place behind the CDU/CSU alliance.{{cite news |last=Kinkartz |first=Sabine |date=7 July 2023 |title=Poll: Far-right AfD is Germany's second-strongest party |url=https://www.dw.com/en/poll-far-right-afd-is-germanys-second-strongest-party/a-66154675 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709104258/https://www.dw.com/en/poll-far-right-afd-is-germanys-second-strongest-party/a-66154675 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |access-date=9 July 2023 |work=Deutsche Welle}} The SPD co-leader said a ban should be considered if the AfD is categorized as a group of "proven Right-wing extremists" by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Friedrich Merz, the CDU leader, warned that "banning parties has never actually solved political problems". Germans are evenly split on a ban, with 47 per cent in favour and 47 per cent against; the ban is more popular in the west and among liberal Greens.{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=James |date=13 August 2023 |title=Germany considers ban on far-Right AfD |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/13/afd-party-ban-germany-far-right-extremists/ |access-date=13 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813213948/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/13/afd-party-ban-germany-far-right-extremists/ |archive-date=13 August 2023 |issn=0307-1235 |url-status=live}}

In December 2023, Tim Lochner of AfD was elected Mayor of Pirna (Saxony), he became the first mayor of a city with more than 20,000 inhabitants to be a member of the party.{{Cite web |work=mdr.de |title=Oberbürgermeisterwahl in Pirna: Kandidat Lochner gewinnt für AfD |url=https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/dresden/freital-pirna/wahl-oberbuergermeister-lochner-afd-ergebnis-100.html |access-date=17 December 2023 |language=de |archive-date=11 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111151517/https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/dresden/freital-pirna/wahl-oberbuergermeister-lochner-afd-ergebnis-100.html |url-status=live}}

In 2023, the AfD saw 86 violent attacks on AfD party representatives. This was more than on any other German party.{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/afd-politician-stabbed-political-attack-violence-elections-far-right-left-wing-extremism/ |title=AfD politician stabbed by man wielding box cutter |first=Nette |last=Nöstlinger |work=Politico |date=5 June 2024 |access-date=10 June 2024 |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902150508/https://www.politico.eu/article/afd-politician-stabbed-political-attack-violence-elections-far-right-left-wing-extremism/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.euronews.com/2024/05/17/violence-against-german-politicians-almost-doubles-in-5-years |title=Green and AfD's politicians most at risk of violent attacks in Germany |first=Liv |last=Stroud |work=Euronews |date=17 May 2024 |access-date=10 June 2024 |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610101924/https://www.euronews.com/2024/05/17/violence-against-german-politicians-almost-doubles-in-5-years |url-status=live }}

{{main|2023 Potsdam far-right meeting|2024–2025 German anti-extremism protests}}

In January 2024 Correctiv reported that members of AfD had secretly met with figures from the German and Austrian far-right in November 2023, in which they allegedly discussed a "remigration" plan for deporting immigrants, which could include naturalised German citizens. Those present included the Identitarian activist Martin Sellner.{{Cite web |date=15 January 2024 |title=Secret plan against Germany |url=https://correctiv.org/en/top-stories/2024/01/15/secret-plan-against-germany/ |access-date=21 January 2024 |website=Correctiv|archive-date=21 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240121003327/https://correctiv.org/en/top-stories/2024/01/15/secret-plan-against-germany/ |url-status=live |last1=Zick |first1=Valentin }}{{Cite web |date=10 January 2024 |title=Germany: AfD disputes 'remigration' investigative report |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-afd-disputes-remigration-investigative-report/a-67941758 |access-date=21 January 2024 |website=Deutsche Welle |archive-date=21 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240121015602/https://www.dw.com/en/germany-afd-disputes-remigration-investigative-report/a-67941758 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=18 January 2024 |title=German far-right party assailed over report of extremist meeting |url=https://apnews.com/article/germany-far-right-deportations-parliament-7a29129a6f50853791004d21ffea2a92 |access-date=21 January 2024 |website=Associated Press |archive-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118164912/https://apnews.com/article/germany-far-right-deportations-parliament-7a29129a6f50853791004d21ffea2a92 |url-status=live }}

The AfD distanced itself from the meeting, saying it was not responsible for what was discussed and that its members had attended only in a personal capacity. Alice Weidel parted ways with Roland Hartwig, an advisor who was present at the meeting.{{Cite web |last=Tanno |first=Sophie |date=20 January 2024 |title=Germany's far-right AfD face mounting protests over plan to deport migrants |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/20/europe/germany-protests-far-right-afd-migrant-deportation-plan-intl/index.html |access-date=21 January 2024 |website=CNN |archive-date=20 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120192349/https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/20/europe/germany-protests-far-right-afd-migrant-deportation-plan-intl/index.html |url-status=live }}

The plan was condemned by German politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz.{{Cite web |date=11 January 2024 |title=Germany's Scholz condemns alleged plot by far-right groups to deport millions if they take power |url=https://apnews.com/article/germany-far-right-scholz-immigrants-deportation-abcbc678dc69501b1ce622a737a11abc |access-date=21 January 2024 |website=Associated Press |archive-date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117184642/https://apnews.com/article/germany-far-right-scholz-immigrants-deportation-abcbc678dc69501b1ce622a737a11abc |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=20 January 2024 |title=Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the far-right |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/20/tens-of-thousands-protest-in-germany-against-far-right-party |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120183504/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/20/tens-of-thousands-protest-in-germany-against-far-right-party |archive-date=20 January 2024 |access-date=21 January 2024 |website=Al Jazeera}} The report sparked protests against the AfD across Germany, with protestors calling for a ban of AfD.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-69003733 |title=Germany: Court says far-right AfD is suspected of extremism|date=13 May 2024 |work=BBC News |access-date=14 May 2024 |archive-date=14 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514035104/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-69003733 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.dw.com/en/german-secret-service-can-continue-surveillance-of-afd/video-69069553 |title=German secret service can continue surveillance of AfD |work=Deutsche Welle |access-date=14 May 2024 |archive-date=14 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514035104/https://www.dw.com/en/german-secret-service-can-continue-surveillance-of-afd/video-69069553 |url-status=live}} Subsequently, the AfD member Maximilian Krah got involved in controversy, prompting AfD to be expelled from the ID group, with EKRE supporting expulsion of Krah, but opposing the removal of the entire AfD delegation, and the FPÖ opposing the expulsion of AfD.{{Cite news |date=23 May 2024 |title=Far-right ID group expels Alternative for Germany |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-identity-and-democracy-group-expels-alternative-for-germany/ |access-date=23 May 2024 |work=Politico |archive-date=23 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523205454/https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-identity-and-democracy-group-expels-alternative-for-germany/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=23 May 2024 |title=Riesen-Eklat in Brüssel: AfD fliegt aus Fraktion |url=https://www.krone.at/3387968 |access-date=23 May 2024 |website=Kronen Zeitung |language=de |archive-date=23 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523150458/https://www.krone.at/3387968 |url-status=live}}

{{further|2024 European Parliament election in Germany}}

File:2024 European Parliament election in Germany - Results.svg]]

On 9 June 2024 AfD won 16% of the vote in the European Parliament elections, second only to the CDU/CSU and almost five percentage points more than in the 2019 election.{{Cite news |last1=Nir |first1=Sarah Maslin |last2=Schuetze |first2=Christopher F. |date=10 June 2024 |title=In Germany, Far-Right Party Rises to 2nd Place in E.U. Election |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/10/world/europe/germany-afd-eu-election.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610214949/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/10/world/europe/germany-afd-eu-election.html |archive-date=10 June 2024 |access-date=11 June 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |date=9 June 2024 |title=German conservatives first, far-right AfD second in EU election |first=Nette |last=Nöstlinger |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/conservatives-finish-first-germany-eu-election-early-projection-cdu-csu/ |access-date=11 June 2024 |work=POLITICO |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902150510/https://www.politico.eu/article/conservatives-finish-first-germany-eu-election-early-projection-cdu-csu/ |url-status=live}} AfD prevailed in all five former East German states.{{cite web |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/far-right-afd-becomes-strongest-party-in-eastern-german-states/3245649 |title=Far-right AfD becomes strongest party in eastern German states |access-date=14 June 2024 |archive-date=14 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614052658/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/far-right-afd-becomes-strongest-party-in-eastern-german-states/3245649 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.dw.com/en/eu-elections-2024-afd-gains-ground-among-germanys-youth/video-69320840 |title=Far-right AfD strong in eastern Germany, among young voters |date=10 June 2024 |website=Deutsche Welle |access-date=14 June 2024 |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902150408/https://www.dw.com/en/eu-elections-2024-afd-gains-ground-among-germanys-youth/video-69320840 |url-status=live }}

One of the party's leaders, Tino Chrupalla, hailed the results as "historic". In an attempt to rejoin the ID group, the AfD replaced its controversial candidate Maximilian Krah with René Aust as head of the AfD delegation in the European Parliament.{{Cite web |date=10 June 2024 |title=AfD's EU delegation shaken up following election results |url=https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/06/10/germanys-far-right-afd-appoints-new-european-parliament-delegation-leader |access-date=11 June 2024 |website=euronews |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902151631/https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/06/10/germanys-far-right-afd-appoints-new-european-parliament-delegation-leader |url-status=live }} However, AfD failed to join ID, or now named Patriots for Europe. Instead, AfD formed the new ESN group which was composed predominantly of AfD members, as well as some other ethnonationalist parties across Europe.{{Cite web |date=10 July 2024 |title=New far-right group led by Germany's AfD founded in European Parliament |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/new-far-right-group-european-parliament-germany-afd/ |access-date=4 December 2024 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}}

In the 2024 Thuringian state election, the AfD became the first far-right party in Germany since the Nazi Party to win a plurality of seats in a state election.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/09/01/germany-far-right-afd-elections/ |title=Far right set to win in a German state for the first time since WWII |date=1 September 2024 |access-date=2 September 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en |archive-date=3 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240903120713/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/09/01/germany-far-right-afd-elections/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=1 September 2024 |title=German far right hails 'historic' election victory in east |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn02w01xr2jo |access-date=2 September 2024 |website=BBC News |language=en |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902144402/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn02w01xr2jo |url-status=live }} The AfD also performed strongly in Brandenburg and Saxony.{{Cite web |title=Brandenburg election: Olaf Scholz's SPD narrowly beats AfD - exit polls |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24315lrv18o |access-date=23 September 2024 |website=BBC News |date=22 September 2024 |language=en-GB}}

{{further|2025 German federal election}}

File:21st Bundestag.svg

On 23 February 2025 AfD won 20.8% of the vote in the German federal election, second to the CDU/CSU. It gained 10.4 percentage points over the 2021 election result.{{cite news |first1=Martín González |last1=Gómez |first2=Ilana |last2=Marcus |first3=Jasmine C. |last3=Lee |first4=Christopher F. |last4=Schuetze |first5=Josh |last5=Holder |first6=Agnes |last6=Chang |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/02/23/world/europe/germany-election-results-analysis.html |title=Germany Election Maps: How Conservatives Regained Power |date=23 February 2025 |access-date=24 February 2025 |newspaper=The New York Times |language=en}} The party won nearly a third of the votes in each of the East German states, the lowest being 32.5% in Brandenburg and the highest 38.5% in Thuringia, and won all but three constituency seats in the former East Germany (Potsdam, Erfurt and one of two seats in Leipzig). In the former West Germany, the party beat the SPD for second place by less than 0.5% of the vote and received more than 20% of the vote in two southwestern states: Saarland (21.6%) and Rhineland-Palatinate (20.1%).{{cite web|url=https://www.bundeswahlleiterin.de/bundestagswahlen/2025/ergebnisse.html |title= Bundestagswahl 2025 > Ergebnisse |website=Federal Returning Officer |date=23 February 2025 |access-date=27 February 2025 |language=de}}

On April 2025, for the first time in German history, AfD was ahead of the CDU/CSU (Union) in some opinion polls for the next federal election, while other polls put it on par with the Union or in second place. Support for the CDU/CSU, an alliance that won the election, fell from 29% to 24%, while AfD rose by three percentage points from 22% to 25%, partially becoming the most popular party in Germany.{{Cite web |date=April 9, 2025 |title=Germany's far-right AfD tops poll for first time in blow to chancellor-in-waiting Merz |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germanys-far-right-afd-tops-poll-first-time-blow-chancellor-in-waiting-merz-2025-04-09/ |access-date= |website=Reuters}}{{Cite web |last=Alipour |first=Nick |date=April 9, 2025 |title=Why the AfD is now Germany's most popular party |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/germany-is-approaching-a-far-right-watershed/ |website=Euractiv}}

In May 2025 the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) classified AfD as a "confirmed right-wing extremist endeavor". In a 1,100-page classified and undisclosed report, BfV experts found that AfD is a "racist and anti-Muslim organisation". The classification will allow German authorities to monitor AfD and possibly limit or halt public funding for it. It may also inspire its opponents to attempt to get it banned.{{Cite web |last=Marsh |first=Sarah |date=May 2, 2025 |title=German spy agency brands far-right AfD as 'extremist', opens way for closer surveillance |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-spy-agency-ranks-far-right-afd-extremist-2025-05-02/ |website=Reuters}}{{Cite web |last=Robbins |first=Siobhan |date=April 2, 2025 |title=Germany's far-right AfD party officially classified as 'extremist' organisation |url=https://news.sky.com/story/germanys-far-right-afd-party-officially-classified-as-extremist-organisation-13359754 |access-date= |website=Sky News |language=en}} AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said the decision was "clearly politically motivated" and was a "severe blow to German democracy". They argued that AfD is being discredited and persecuted by the government.{{Cite web |last=Kirby |first=Paul |date=April 2, 2025 |title=AfD classified as extreme-right by German intelligence |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy6zk9wkrdo |access-date= |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that BfV provided a "very detailed justification" for its decision and that proceedings to ban the AfD must not be rushed. Several federal states in Germany have begun considering measures that would ban AfD members from being employed in jobs like civil servants, police officers, teachers or soldiers in response to the classification.{{Cite web |last=Pfeifer |first=Hanz |date=May 6, 2025 |title=Germany sees new debate over possible ban of the AfD |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-sees-new-debate-over-possible-ban-of-the-afd/a-72451814 |website=Deutsche Welle}}

On 4 May 2025 a poll conducted by Insa Polling Institute which surveyed 1,001 people found that 48% of them favour banning AfD. The poll also showed that 61% of participants consider AfD a "right-wing extremist” party.{{Cite web |date=May 4, 2024 |title=Almost half of Germans support AfD ban over extremism: poll |url=https://www.trt.global/world/article/9bd567d81757 |website=TRT Global}} On 5 May AfD sued the Federal Office for the Protection of Constitution, accusing it of violating the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (the German constitution) by trying to prosecute AfD for saying ideas which are considered freedom of speech and legitimate criticism of German immigration policies.{{Cite web |date=May 5, 2025 |title=German AfD party sues after spy agency's 'right-wing extremist' label |url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20250505-germany-s-afd-party-sues-after-spy-agency-labels-it-as-right-wing-extremist |website=France 24}}{{Cite web |last=Mattuseek |first=Karin |date=May 5, 2025 |title=Germany's AfD Party Challenges Agency's 'Extremist' Label |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-05/german-afd-party-challenges-security-service-s-extremist-label |website=Bloomberg}} A court in Cologne will start reviewing the case once BfV confirms that it has been notified of the lawsuit.{{Cite web |date=May 5, 2025 |title=AfD sues over 'extremist' classification; Germany rejects US criticism |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/5/afd-sues-over-extremist-classification-germany-rejects-us-criticism |website=Al Jazeera}}

Sieghard Knodel, a member of AfD in the Bundestag, had announced his resignation from the party on 6 May 2025. Knodel's resignation was confirmed by an AfD spokesperson and an email which Knodel wrote on 5 May. In the email he expressed his reasons for leaving, stating: "In light of the classification of the party as confirmed right-wing extremist by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, I must protect my private and business environment", he also wrote that his decision was "unavoidable" and that he would continue to serve as a non-attached member of parliament. As a result of him leaving the party, AfD's parliamentary seats have decreased from 152 to 151.{{Cite web |last=Agaci |first=Evrim |date=May 6, 2025 |title=AfD Member Resigns After Extremist Classification |url=https://evrimagaci.org/tpg/afd-member-resigns-after-extremist-classification-344042 |website=The Pinnacle Gazette}}{{Self-published inline|date=May 2025}}{{Cite web |date=May 6, 2025 |title=MP turns his back on AfD after extremism classification |url=https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/sieghard-knodel-abgeordneter-kehrt-afd-nach-extremismus-einstufung-den-ruecken/100126371.html |work=Handelsblatt |access-date=May 30, 2025}}

On May 8, the extremist classification of AfD was temporarily suspended by the BfV in a standstill agreement, meaning that the agency is pausing the extremist designation until an official court judgement has been made.{{Cite web |last=Neubert |first=Kjeld |date=May 8, 2025 |title=Germany's domestic intel agency backtracks on 'extremist' label for AfD - Euractiv |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/germanys-domestic-intel-agency-backtracks-on-extremist-label-for-afd/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250508140424/https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/germanys-domestic-intel-agency-backtracks-on-extremist-label-for-afd/ |archive-date=2025-05-08 |access-date= |website=Euractiv |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |last=Rinke |first=Andreas |date=May 8, 2025 |title=German spy agency pauses 'extremist' classification for AfD party, local court says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-spy-agency-pauses-extremist-classification-afd-party-local-court-says-2025-05-08/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250508122254/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-spy-agency-pauses-extremist-classification-afd-party-local-court-says-2025-05-08/ |archive-date=2025-05-08 |access-date= |work=Reuters |language=en-US}} Two AfD's leaders, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, said that BfV's decision is a "first important step" that would help "counter the accusation of right-wing extremism".{{Cite web |last=Blackburn |first=Gavin |date=May 9, 2025 |title=Germany's intelligence agency suspends AfD party's 'extremist' classification |url=https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/germany-s-intelligence-agency-suspends-afd-party-s-extremist-classification/ar-AA1Epk0O |website=Euronews |via=MSN}} The expertise by the BfV, that led to the classification, was later leaked to the public.

{{Conservatism in Germany|Parties}}

AfD is broadly considered to be a right-wing and national-conservative movement in both socioeconomic and sociocultural terms. AfD's policy brief and mission statement seeks to define the party as both liberal and conservative, with an emphasis on protecting sovereignty, Western identity, and German culture in what it calls a "peaceful, democratic and sovereign nation-state of the German people."{{cite web|title=Partei|url=https://www.afd.de/partei/|access-date=31 October 2021|website=Alternative für Deutschland|language=de|archive-date=29 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029212613/https://www.afd.de/partei/|url-status=live}} Political scientists and journalists have also described AfD as synonymous with opposition to immigration, Euroscepticism, and holding a nationalist bent, with various shades of German nationalism from civic nationalism to hardline sentiments visible in the party. Other commentators have categorized it as a radical right populist party{{cite book|last=Havertz|first=Ralf|year=2021|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PxYcEAAAQBAJ|title=Radical Right Populism in Germany: AfD, Pegida, and the Identitarian Movement|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-000-36886-4}} or as "a typical radical right-wing populist party", with an emphasis on nativism. Within its elected representation and grassroots membership, AfD has grown to contain interparty factions that range from more moderate conservatives to radicals.{{cite book|last1=Caiani|first1=Manuela|last2=Císař|first2=Ondřej|year=2018|title=Radical Right Movement Parties in Europe|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781351342797}}{{cite web|last=Gedmin|first=Jeffrey|date=4 December 2019|title=How 'populist' is the AfD?|url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-populist-is-the-afd/|access-date=31 October 2021|publisher=Brookings Institution|archive-date=1 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101025409/https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-populist-is-the-afd/|url-status=live}}

AfD was initially founded as a liberal conservative party of the middle class,{{Cite book|page=254|title=Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe 2017-2018|year=2017|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|first=Mayek|last=Payerhin}} with a tendency towards soft Euroscepticism,{{cite news |title=German party says 'no' to the euro, 'yes' to the EU |url=https://www.dw.com/en/german-party-says-no-to-the-euro-yes-to-the-eu/a-16660602 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=11 March 2013 |access-date=8 September 2019 |archive-date=21 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200121121925/https://www.dw.com/en/german-party-says-no-to-the-euro-yes-to-the-eu/a-16660602 |url-status=live }} being supportive of Germany's membership in the European Union but critical of further European integration, the existence of the euro currency and the bailouts by the Eurozone for countries such as Greece.* {{cite book|author=Stijn van Kessel|title=Populist Parties in Europe: Agents of Discontent?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0MTBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT61|year=2015|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-1-137-41411-3|pages=61–62}}

• {{cite book|author=Wayne C. Thompson|title=Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MWBYBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA283|year=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4758-1224-4|page=283}}
• {{cite book|author1=Lee McGowan|author2=David Phinnemore|title=A Dictionary of the European Union|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bnYGCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT23|year=2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-44515-9|pages=23–24}}
• {{cite journal|last=Arzheimer|first=Kai|authorlink=Kai Arzheimer|date=2015|title=The AfD: Finally a Successful Right-Wing Populist Eurosceptic Party for Germany|url=https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/afd-right-wing-populist-eurosceptic-germany/|journal=West European Politics|volume=38|issue=3|pages=535–556|doi=10.1080/01402382.2015.1004230|s2cid=14613344|access-date=3 February 2020|archive-date=3 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203145116/https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/afd-right-wing-populist-eurosceptic-germany/|url-status=live}} At that time, the party also advocated support for Swiss-style semi-direct democracy, major reforms to the Eurozone, opposition to immigration, and opposed same-sex marriage.{{cite book|editor=Wayne C. Thompson|title=Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe 2015–2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ayb-CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA246|year=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4758-1883-3|page=246}}{{Cite web |url=https://cdn.afd.tools/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2017/04/2017-04-12_afd-grundsatzprogramm-englisch_web.pdf |title=AfD Grundsatzprogramm |access-date=29 May 2020 |archive-date=4 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104191042/https://cdn.afd.tools/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2017/04/2017-04-12_afd-grundsatzprogramm-englisch_web.pdf |url-status=dead }} During this period, the party espoused economic liberal,
• {{cite book|last1=D'Ottavio|last2=Saafeld|first2=Thomas|year=2016|title=Germany After the 2013 Elections: Breaking the Mould of Post-Unification Politics?|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317128373|quote=Beyond economic liberalism, the AfD fosters rather more conservative core issues, such as traditional forms of morality and political authority.}}
• {{cite book|last=Muzergues|first=Thibault|year=2019|title=The Great Class Shift: How New Social Class Structures are Redefining Western Politics|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781000727432|quote=Created in 2013, first and foremost as a libertarian and Eurosceptic party, ... .}}
• {{cite book|last=Close|first=Caroline|year=2019|title=Liberal Parties in Europe|publisher=Routledge|page=157|isbn=9781351245494}}
• {{cite book|last=Havertz|first=Ralf|year=2021|title=Radical Right Populism in Germany: AfD, Pegida, and the Identitarian Movement|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781000368888|quote=The founders of the AfD party were a group of economic liberal, ... .}} ordoliberal,{{cite web |title=The rise of Germany's AfD: From ordoliberalism to new right nationalism and into the Bundestag? |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2017/06/27/the-rise-of-germanys-afd/ |work=LSE |date=27 June 2017 |access-date=17 February 2020 |archive-date=17 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217202346/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2017/06/27/the-rise-of-germanys-afd/ |url-status=live }} and national liberal policy stances.{{cite news |title=AfD vor dem Parteitag: National-sozial vs. national-liberal |url=https://taz.de/AfD-vor-dem-Parteitag/!5516714/ |work=Die Tageszeitung |date=29 June 2016 |last=Orde |first=Sabine am |access-date=9 March 2020 |archive-date=27 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327143341/https://taz.de/AfD-vor-dem-Parteitag/!5516714/ |url-status=live }} Former party MEP Hans-Olaf Henkel likened AfD's early platform to the Conservative Party in Britain rather than hard Eurosceptic or nationalist parties such as the UK Independence Party or the National Front in France. AfD was also compared to the Tea Party movement by some media outlets due to its campaigns against Eurozone bailouts, although AfD's early leadership disputed this and said it was not looking to attract right-wing extremists into the party.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/20/business/international/a-german-voice-hans-olaf-henkel-calls-for-euros-abolition.html|title=A German Voice, Hans-Olaf Henkel, Calls for Euro's Abolition|work=The New York Times|date=19 June 2014|last=Ewing|first=Jack|access-date=16 December 2020|archive-date=7 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807174028/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/20/business/international/a-german-voice-hans-olaf-henkel-calls-for-euros-abolition.html|url-status=live}}

In 2015 more moderate members, including its founder and former chairman Bernd Lucke, left AfD after Frauke Petry was elected chairperson to found a new party, the Alliance for Progress and Renewal, which was renamed the Liberal Conservative Reformers in November 2016.{{cite news|work=BBC|title=German Eurosceptic leader Lucke sets up Alfa party|date=20 July 2015|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33593741|access-date=24 November 2020|archive-date=8 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108110154/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33593741|url-status=live}} When party founder Bernd Lucke had left AfD in 2015, he cited, among other reasons an "anti-western, decidedly pro-Russian foreign and security policy orientation" as well as increasing calls to "pose the 'system question' with regard to our parliamentary democracy" as reasons for his departure from the party.{{Cite web |date=12 January 2019 |title=Lucke verlässt seine AfD |url=https://www.fr.de/politik/lucke-verlaesst-seine-11155453.html |access-date=11 November 2024 |website=www.fr.de |language=de}} At that time, AfD was performing poorly in opinion polls, polling at around 3%, and was suffering infighting; however, an influx of refugees and migrants boosted their support later in 2015, with the party turning from matters related to the Eurozone to focus on opposing migration, in particular Muslims and Muslim immigration.{{Cite news|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/07/alternative-germany-right-spd-merkel-gabriel-immigration-refugees-xenophobia-austerity-die-linke/|title=Germany's Shift to the Right|last=Werner|first=Alban|work=Jacobin|access-date=2 October 2017|archive-date=24 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924141903/https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/07/alternative-germany-right-spd-merkel-gabriel-immigration-refugees-xenophobia-austerity-die-linke/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/en/bavarian-afd-wants-to-shut-down-mosques/a-19149600|title=Bavarian AfD wants to shut down mosques|website=Deutsche Welle|access-date=2 October 2017|archive-date=24 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924142206/http://www.dw.com/en/bavarian-afd-wants-to-shut-down-mosques/a-19149600|url-status=live}}

AfD underwent a further shift to the right after Petry left the party in 2017 and formed The Blue Party, following AfD's adoption of more hardline Islamophobic, anti-immigration positions, and historical revisionist remarks by leading AfD figures.{{cite news|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/germany-election-afd-idUSKBN17M1SL|date=20 April 2017|title=German Muslims fear more radical AfD without Petry in election race |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023221615/https://www.reuters.com/article/germany-election-afd-idUSKBN17M1SL |archive-date=23 October 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cite news|work=BBC|title=Germany: Former AfD leader Frauke Petry charged with perjury|date=4 October 2017|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41496313|access-date=24 November 2020|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112011916/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41496313|url-status=live}}{{cite news|work=Quartz|title=The leader of Germany's far-right party quit hours after its election success – because it's too radical|url=https://qz.com/1086342/why-frauke-petry-leader-of-germanys-far-right-afd-party-quit-post-german-election/|access-date=24 November 2020|archive-date=24 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124185432/https://qz.com/1086342/why-frauke-petry-leader-of-germanys-far-right-afd-party-quit-post-german-election/|url-status=live}} The party now resembles other populist radical right parties in Europe but is somewhat unusual because it maintains visible ties to even more extreme groups.{{Cite journal|last=Arzheimer|first=Kai|authorlink=Kai Arzheimer|date=2019|title=Don't mention the war! How populist right-wing radicalism became (almost) normal in Germany|url=https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/right-wing-populism-germany-normalisation/|journal=Journal of Common Market Studies|volume=57|pages=90–102|doi=10.1111/jcms.12920|s2cid=211346942|access-date=3 February 2020|archive-date=3 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203153912/https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/right-wing-populism-germany-normalisation/|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}} The party has been described by political scientists as more radical than many other European right-wing populist parties, including the Sweden Democrats, the Danish People's Party, and the Freedom Party of Austria.{{cite news|work=Foreign Policy|title=Germany's Far-Right Party Is Worse Than the Rest of Europe's|date=26 January 2024|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/01/26/afd-germany-far-right-populism-radical-europe-remigration-immigrants/|access-date=26 February 2024|archive-date=2 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902151000/https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/01/26/afd-germany-far-right-populism-radical-europe-remigration-immigrants/|url-status=live}} AfD has been described as, and accused of, containing members sympathetic to the Identitarian movement{{cite news|title=How dangerous is the Identitarian Movement?|date=13 July 2019|url=https://www.dw.com/en/how-dangerous-is-the-identitarian-movement/a-49580233|access-date=31 October 2021|publisher=Deutsche Welle|archive-date=29 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029060259/https://www.dw.com/en/how-dangerous-is-the-identitarian-movement/a-49580233|url-status=live}} and Pegida. The AfD leadership has been split on whether to embrace these movements within the party.{{cite news|date=22 February 2018|title=Germany's far-right AfD set to embrace anti-Islam PEGIDA|publisher=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-afd-idUSKCN1G61ZH|access-date=31 October 2021|archive-date=31 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031094550/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-afd-idUSKCN1G61ZH|url-status=live}}

In March 2020 the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution ({{langx|de|Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz}}) classified AfD's far-right nationalistic faction known as Der Flügel as "a right-wing extremist endeavor against the free democratic basic order" and as "not compatible with the Basic Law", placing it under government surveillance.{{cite web|url=https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/de/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/presse/pm-20200312-bfv-stuft-afd-teilorganisation-der-fluegel-als-gesichert-rechtsextremistische-bestrebung-ein|title=Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz stuft AfD-Teilorganisation 'Der Flügel' als gesichert rechtsextremistische Bestrebung ein|publisher=Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz|language=de|date=12 March 2020|accessdate=31 October 2021|archive-date=18 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318155006/https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/de/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/presse/pm-20200312-bfv-stuft-afd-teilorganisation-der-fluegel-als-gesichert-rechtsextremistische-bestrebung-ein|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Verfassungsschutz stuft 'Flügel' als rechtsextrem ein |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/afd-verfassungsschutz-stuft-fluegel-als-beobachtungsfall-ein-a-1436d2da-ded7-4c62-9209-3ab648d104cf|work=Der Spiegel – Politik |date=12 March 2020|language=de|access-date=13 March 2020|archive-date=13 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313182320/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/afd-verfassungsschutz-stuft-fluegel-als-beobachtungsfall-ein-a-1436d2da-ded7-4c62-9209-3ab648d104cf|url-status=live}} In early March 2021 most of Germany's major media outlets reported that the Bundesverfassungsschutz had placed the whole AfD under surveillance as a "suspected extremist group".{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56250460 |title=Germany to spy on far-right AfD party, reports say |date=4 March 2021 |access-date=5 March 2021 |archive-date=20 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620021525/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56250460 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-places-entire-far-right-afd-under-surveillance-reports/a-56757489|title=Germany places entire far-right AfD under surveillance – reports|date=3 March 2021|publisher=Deutsche Welle|access-date=5 March 2021|archive-date=11 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511224807/https://www.dw.com/en/germany-places-entire-far-right-afd-under-surveillance-reports/a-56757489|url-status=live}} In response to claims from AfD members that the move was intended to damage the party's chances in the 2021 German federal election, the agency stated it would not make public announcements regarding investigations into AfD or its candidates for the foreseeable future. After the revelations, the surveillance was blocked by the courts to give equal opportunities among political parties in a key election year.{{cite news|title=German court bars surveillance of far-right AfD|url=https://www.ft.com/content/53f12c7e-8bd8-4f3b-8ab3-9b0e508b5008|access-date=29 March 2021|work=Financial Times|date=5 March 2021|last1=Chazan|first1=Guy|archive-date=5 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805204514/https://www.ft.com/content/53f12c7e-8bd8-4f3b-8ab3-9b0e508b5008|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=5 March 2021|title=German court blocks surveillance of far-right AfD|url=https://www.thelocal.de/20210305/german-court-blocks-surveillance-of-far-right-afd/|access-date=29 March 2021|website=The Local Germany|archive-date=5 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805204512/https://www.thelocal.de/20210305/german-court-blocks-surveillance-of-far-right-afd/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=German court suspends surveillance of far-right AfD, for now|url=https://www.dw.com/en/german-court-suspends-surveillance-of-far-right-afd-for-now/a-56785125|access-date=29 March 2021|publisher=Deutsche Welle|archive-date=25 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925033840/https://www.dw.com/en/german-court-suspends-surveillance-of-far-right-afd-for-now/a-56785125|url-status=live}} In 2022 it was ruled that the BfV may classify and monitor the entire party as a suspected right-wing extremist group. A corresponding lawsuit by AfD was dismissed because "there were sufficient factual indications of anti-constitutional efforts within the AfD". The dismissal was upheld in May 2024.{{cite web | last1=Schmidt | first1=Martin | last2=Kehlbach | first2=Christoph | title=Was folgt aus dem Verfassungsschutz-Urteil für die AfD? | website=Tagesschau | date=13 May 2024 | url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/afd-urteil-muenster-ovg-analyse-100.html | language=de | access-date=13 May 2024 | archive-date=13 May 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513134807/https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/afd-urteil-muenster-ovg-analyse-100.html | url-status=live }} On 26 April 2023 the BfV, after four years of investigations into the Young Alternative for Germany, categorized that group as a confirmed extremist organisation. This allowed the chief of the BfV Thomas Haldenwang to place the youth wing under even more intensive surveillance than the tapping of phone and the use of undercover agents that had been the case until then.{{cite news |title=Germany labels youth wing of far-right AfD party as extremist group |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/germany-labels-youth-wing-of-far-right-afd-party-as-extremist-group/ |author=Agence France-Presse |work=The Times of Israel |date=26 April 2023 |access-date=14 August 2023 |archive-date=6 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606182930/https://www.timesofisrael.com/germany-labels-youth-wing-of-far-right-afd-party-as-extremist-group/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Rinke |first1=Andreas |last2=Marsh |first2=Sarah |title=German spy agency ranks youth group of far-right AfD 'extremist' |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-spy-agency-ranks-youth-group-far-right-afd-extremist-2023-04-26/ |work=Reuters |date=26 April 2023 |access-date=14 August 2023 |archive-date=25 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725065950/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-spy-agency-ranks-youth-group-far-right-afd-extremist-2023-04-26/ |url-status=live }} In 2025, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution officially classified AfD as a "confirmed right-wing extremist endeavor," which allows authorities to increase surveillance, and permits the use of informants and monitoring of communications. The expertise by the BfV, that led to that classification, was later leaked to the public.

AfD is anti-communist and engaged in red-baiting by comparing Angela Merkel and her government to the secret police in East Germany.{{cite news |title=Germany's far-right AfD: Victim or victor? |publisher=BBC |date=2 September 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49549670 |quote=The AfD ran a politically savvy campaign. It tapped into historical grievances in former communist eastern Germany, by co-opting phrases from the dissident movement that brought down the Berlin Wall 30 years ago. The AfD posters demanded a 'Wende 2.0', using the German word for the peaceful revolution that brought down East German communism, and the AfD leaders compared Mrs Merkel's government to the Stasi secret police. |access-date=25 October 2020 |archive-date=10 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910145626/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49549670 |url-status=live }}

Political commentators and analysts have described the party as containing two prominent factions: subscribers to the more dovish and moderate national-conservative Alternative Mitte (Alternative Center) wing, such as the parliamentarians Jörg Meuthen, Alice Weidel, and Beatrix von Storch, who oppose collaboration with movements or figures like the Pegida founder Lutz Bachmann;{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article166915486/In-der-AfD-waechst-ein-zartes-Pflaenzchen-der-Maessigung.html|title='Alternative Mitte': In der AfD wächst ein zartes Pflänzchen der Mäßigung|first=Matthias|last=Kamann|newspaper=Die Welt|date=23 July 2017|via=www.welt.de|access-date=15 August 2022|archive-date=25 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525231220/https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article166915486/In-der-AfD-waechst-ein-zartes-Pflaenzchen-der-Maessigung.html|url-status=live}}Sebastian Hesse: [https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/politik/inland/afd-entscheidet-ueber-kooperationsverbot-mit-pegida-100.html AfD ringt um Verhältnis zu Pegida] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304231615/https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/politik/inland/afd-entscheidet-ueber-kooperationsverbot-mit-pegida-100.html |date=4 March 2018 }}, MDR, 2 March 2018. and the more hardline identitarian Der Flügel (The Wing) faction, comprising figures at state level such as Thuringia state leader Björn Höcke.{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37274201|title = Germany's AfD: How right-wing is nationalist Alternative for Germany?|work = BBC News|date = 11 February 2020|access-date = 7 July 2018|archive-date = 17 January 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190117212454/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37274201|url-status = live}}{{Cite web|url = https://unherd.com/2020/07/can-german-nationalism-ever-be-normal/|title = Can German nationalism ever be normal?|first=Douglas|last=Murray|work=UnHerd|date = 23 July 2020|access-date = 16 December 2020|archive-date = 26 December 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201226013351/https://unherd.com/2020/07/can-german-nationalism-ever-be-normal/|url-status = live}} The political author Jeffrey Gedmin has described the present incarnation of AfD as somewhat lacking in a consistent ideological vision and containing a broad church of members who are conservatives, social conservatives, radical-rightists, and others who do not present clear ideological narrative. He also described some of its core voter support as ranging from far-right nationalists to moderate but traditionalist and disaffected conservatives.

{{Main|Völkisch nationalism}}

Over time a focus on German nationalism, on reclaiming Germany's sovereignty and national pride, especially in repudiation of Germany's culture of shame with regard to its Nazi past, became more central in AfD's ideology and a central plank in its populist appeals. Petry, who led the moderate wing of the party, said that Germany should reclaim völkisch from its Nazi connotations,{{cite news|title='Nazi word' revived by German AfD chief|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37337927|publisher=BBC|date=12 September 2016|access-date=21 July 2018|archive-date=26 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426203527/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37337927|url-status=live}} while the more right-wing Björn Höcke regularly speaks of the Vaterland ("fatherland") and Volk ("nation" or "people", but with a strong ethnic or racial connotation).

In January 2017 Höcke in a speech stated, in reference to the Berlin Holocaust Memorial, that "Germans are the only people in the world who plant a monument of shame in the heart of the capital" and criticized this "laughable policy of coming to terms with the past".{{cite news | title=German AfD rightist triggers fury with Holocaust memorial comments | first=Madeline | last=Chambers | publisher=Reuters | date=18 January 2017 | access-date=7 March 2018 | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-afd/german-afd-rightist-triggers-fury-with-holocaust-memorial-comments-idUSKBN1521H3 | archive-date=8 March 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308103829/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-afd/german-afd-rightist-triggers-fury-with-holocaust-memorial-comments-idUSKBN1521H3 | url-status=live }}{{cite news | title=German AfD politician 'attacks Holocaust memorial' and says Germans should be more positive about Nazi past | first=Lizzie | last=Dearden | work=The Independent | date=19 January 2017 | access-date=7 March 2018 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-afd-bjoern-hoecke-berlin-holocaust-memorial-shame-history-positive-nazi-180-turnaround-a7535306.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124105930/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-afd-bjoern-hoecke-berlin-holocaust-memorial-shame-history-positive-nazi-180-turnaround-a7535306.html |archive-date=24 January 2017 |url-access=limited |url-status=live}} Höcke continued that Germany should make a "180 degree" turn with regard to its sense of national pride.

{{Seealso|Antisemitism in 21st-century Germany}}

Although AfD leaders have repeatedly denied accusations of antisemitism, some AfD members and candidates have expressed antisemitic attitudes.{{cite news |title=Three members of the far-right German AfD party visit Yad Vashem |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-741853 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=2 May 2023}}{{cite news |last1=S. Tobin |first1=Jonathan |title=Don't reject allies who oppose the red-green antisemitic alliance |url=https://www.jns.org/dont-reject-allies-who-oppose-the-red-green-antisemitic-alliance/ |date=20 March 2025 |work=Jewish News Syndicate}} According to a study conducted by the Forsa Institute in 2019, while 2% of the German population agreed with the statement that "the Holocaust is propaganda of the Allied Powers", that proportion was 15% among AfD supporters.{{cite book |last=Mendel |first=Meron |authorlink=Meron Mendel |year=2023 |title=Über Israel reden: Eine deutsche Debatte |trans-title=Talking about Israel: a German debate |

publisher=Kiepenheuer & Witsch |isbn=978-3-462-00351-2}} In 2001, 12 years before the founding of AfD, the former AfD Bundestag member Wilhelm von Gottberg expressed his views on the remembrance of the Holocaust by quoting the Italian neofascist Mario Consoli in saying "Any pretext, no matter how flimsy [...], is good enough to remind people of the Holocaust. The propaganda steamroller is getting stronger rather than weaker over the years, and in more and more countries the Jewish 'truth' about the Holocaust is being given legal protection. The Holocaust must remain a myth, a dogma that is beyond the reach of any free historical research."{{Cite web |date=6 January 2001 |title=...und der Zukunft zugewandt |url=https://archiv.preussische-allgemeine.de/2001/2001_01_06_01.pdf |access-date=14 July 2024 |website=Ostdeutsche Allgemeine |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902150922/https://archiv.preussische-allgemeine.de/2001/2001_01_06_01.pdf |url-status=live }} In 2017, ten AfD Bundestag members were found to have participated in a closed Facebook group named "the Patriots" in which, among other things, antisemitic, racist, pro-Nazi and conspiratorial posts were widespread. One meme posted therein, which showed the Holocaust victim Anne Frank's face edited on a pizza box labelled with the German equivalent of "fresh from the oven", gained particular media attention.{{Cite news |date=26 February 2025 |title=AfD in the Bundestag: Hitler, hate and hooligans

|url=https://www.dw.com/en/afd-in-the-bundestag-hitler-hate-and-hooligans/g-71754221

|access-date=24 April 2025 |work=Deutsche Welle}}{{cite web |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/unter-rassisten-so-diskutieren-afd-politiker-im-netz-5804812.html |title=Facebook-Gruppe – Unter Rassisten: So diskutieren AfD-Politiker im Netz |trans-title=Facebook group – Among racists: This is how AfD politicians discuss on the Internet |first=Matthias |last=Meisner |work=Der Tagesspiegel |date=9 November 2017 |language=de |access-date=4 May 2025}} While some AfD officials stated that they had been unknowingly added to the Facebook group without consent and that they had now left it, the Bundestag member Stephan Protschka remained, saying "I am a member of this group because I also see myself as a patriot."{{Cite web |date=14 November 2017 |title=AfD-Abgeordnete sollen rassistische Facebook-Gruppe verlassen |url=https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.angst-vor-schaden-fuer-die-partei-afd-abgeordnete-sollen-rassistische-facebook-gruppe-verlassen.18dface9-9dc1-4b98-a05e-3b46ec9f6758.html |access-date=14 July 2024 |website=Stuttgarter Nachrichten |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902150925/https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.angst-vor-schaden-fuer-die-partei-afd-abgeordnete-sollen-rassistische-facebook-gruppe-verlassen.18dface9-9dc1-4b98-a05e-3b46ec9f6758.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=12 November 2017 |title=AfD-Abgeordnete Mitglieder in rassistischer Facebook-Gruppe |url=https://www.morgenpost.de/politik/article212512795/AfD-Abgeordnete-Mitglieder-in-rassistischer-Facebook-Gruppe.html |access-date=14 July 2024 |website=Morgenpost |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902150925/https://www.morgenpost.de/politik/article212512795/AfD-Abgeordnete-Mitglieder-in-rassistischer-Facebook-Gruppe.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=9 November 2017 |title=Facebook-Gruppe: Unter Rassisten: So diskutieren AfD-Politiker im Netz |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/unter-rassisten-so-diskutieren-afd-politiker-im-netz-5804812.html |access-date=14 July 2024 |website=Tagesspiegel |archive-date=14 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240714163947/https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/unter-rassisten-so-diskutieren-afd-politiker-im-netz-5804812.html |url-status=live }}

According to a 2019 report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, statements by leading AfD representatives such as Alexander Gauland and Björn Höcke, who exonerate Holocaust perpetrators and discredit the reappraisal of the Nazi era as "anti-German", create a "connectivity" to right-wing extremist historical revisionism and could "ultimately lead to denial of war guilt and the Holocaust".{{Cite web |date=17 January 2019 |title=Gutachten zu tatsächlichen Anhaltspunkten für Bestrebungen gegen die freiheitliche demokratische Grundordnung in der "Alternative für Deutschland" (AfD) und ihren Teilorganisationen |url=https://tp-presseagentur.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Verfassungsschutz-Gutachten-AfD.pdf |access-date=14 July 2024 |website=TP-Presseagentur |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902150924/https://tp-presseagentur.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Verfassungsschutz-Gutachten-AfD.pdf |url-status=live }} In 2023 Felix Klein, the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against antisemitism, stated that leading forces within AfD relativize the Holocaust and that the party condones antisemitism.{{Cite web |date=5 August 2023 |title=German AfD: Revival of far-right a 'threat to Jewish life' |url=https://www.dw.com/en/german-afd-revival-of-far-right-a-threat-to-jewish-life/a-66447819 |access-date=18 July 2024 |website=DW |archive-date=18 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718191138/https://www.dw.com/en/german-afd-revival-of-far-right-a-threat-to-jewish-life/a-66447819 |url-status=live }}

Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, stated in 2024 that he is "concerned that the AfD would deliberately act against Jewish life, if it fits into their concept", and that the party offers antisemites a home.{{Cite web |date=7 December 2024 |title=Zentralratspräsident Schuster: AfD bedroht jüdisches Leben in Deutschland |url=https://de.nachrichten.yahoo.com/zentralratspr%C3%A4sident-schuster-afd-bedroht-j%C3%BCdisches-060407012.html |access-date=8 December 2024 |website=Yahoo News }}{{Cite web |date=7 December 2024 |title=Schuster: AfD und BSW sind gefährlich |url=https://www.evangelisch.de/inhalte/236948/07-12-2024/schuster-afd-und-bsw-sind-gefaehrlich |access-date=8 December 2024 |website=evangelisch.de }} A study commissioned by the American Jewish Committee in 2021 came to the conclusion that antisemitism belongs to the "programmatic core" of the AfD. According to the study, the party conducts "targeted campaigns" against Jewish celebrities. The study's author, Lars Rensmann, stated that "despite some lip service to the contrary, hostility towards Israel, Holocaust relativization, antisemitic conspiracy thinking and anti-Jewish images occupy a prominent place" in AfD.{{Cite web |date=17 December 2021 |title=Antisemitismus gehört laut Studie zum »programmatischen Kern« der AfD |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/afd-antisemitismus-gehoert-laut-studie-zum-programmatischen-kern-der-partei-a-ee57381b-a3c2-4910-a69e-d68e0bac8f73 |access-date=10 December 2024 |website=Spiegel }}

AfD supports a ban on kosher slaughter within the country, as well as the "import and sale of kosher meat".{{cite news|title=Jewish supporters of far-right AfD party favor kosher ban|url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/jewish-supporters-of-far-right-afd-party-favor-kosher-ban-573566|access-date=1 November 2021|work=The Jerusalem Post|archive-date=1 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101125752/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/jewish-supporters-of-far-right-afd-party-favor-kosher-ban-573566|url-status=live}} AfD instead wants to require the stunning of animals before slaughter which is against both Jewish and Muslim religious law that both require animals to be conscious when their necks are cut.{{Cite news |title= German party calls for end to ritual slaughter |newspaper=The Times of Israel|date=26 April 2016 |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/german-party-calls-for-end-to-ritual-slaughter/ |via=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}

{{Seealso|Immigration to Germany}}

File:AfD-Wahlplakat "Remigration sofort starten!" in Mödlareuth 20240518 HOF3756 RAW-Export.png of the AfD in Thuringia supporting remigration (2024)]]

AfD describes German national identity as under threat both from European integration and from the presence and accommodation of immigrants and refugees within Germany. Former leader Petry said in March 2016: "I'm not against immigration, but{{nbsp}}... the economic and social consequences of migration on both home and host countries are equally momentous{{nbsp}}.... The immigration of so many Muslims will change our culture. If this change is desired, it must be the product of a democratic decision supported by a broad majority. But Ms. Merkel simply opened the borders and invited everybody in, without consulting the parliament or the people."

In its programme, AfD wants to end what it describes as mass immigration and focus on taking in small numbers of skilled immigrants who are expected to integrate into society and speak German. It encourages German nationals to have more children, as opposed to trying to boost the German population through foreign migration. The party wants to review EU freedom of movement rules and states that immigrants must be employed and contribute to social security through paying taxes for at least four years before being allowed to receive state benefits. AfD calls for mass deportations of foreign born criminals with multiple citizenship or permanent residency. The party describes the Geneva Convention on Refugees as "outdated", calls for stricter vetting of refugees, and believes the German government should invest in special economic and safe zones in third world nations as opposed to taking in large numbers of asylum seekers without background checks.

AfD is critical of multiculturalism in Germany. The party favours banning the burqa, the Islamic call to prayer in public areas and the construction of new minarets, ending foreign funding of mosques and putting imams through a state vetting procedure.

AfD began to employ anti-Muslim rhetoric during the leadership of Frauke Petry, who responded positively to comparisons between the party and Pegida.{{cite web|url=https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-alternative-for-germany-alternative-fur-deutschland-afd/|title=Factsheet: Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland/AfD)|date=7 April 2020|work=Bridge Initiative|publisher=Georgetown University|access-date=24 November 2022|archive-date=24 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124182108/https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-alternative-for-germany-alternative-fur-deutschland-afd/|url-status=live}} In 2016 the party adopted several anti-Muslim positions and stated in its manifesto that "Islam does not belong to Germany. Its expansion and the ever-increasing number of Muslims in the country are viewed by the AfD as a danger to our state, our society, and our values." The party has run a billboard campaign that explicitly referenced the far-right Eurabia conspiracy theory,{{cite news|quote='Europeans, vote for AfD, so that Europe will never become 'Eurabia'!'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/16/the-myth-of-eurabia-how-a-far-right-conspiracy-theory-went-mainstream|title=The myth of Eurabia: how a far-right conspiracy theory went mainstream|date=16 August 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=24 November 2022|archive-date=19 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419165949/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/16/the-myth-of-eurabia-how-a-far-right-conspiracy-theory-went-mainstream|url-status=live}} and the party has been seen to have been strongly influenced by,{{cite journal|title=Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution|first=Ed|last=Perwee|year=2020|journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies|volume=43|issue=16 |pages=211–230|doi=10.1080/01419870.2020.1749688|s2cid=218843237 |doi-access=free}} and to be a part of the counter-jihad movement.{{cite book|url=https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/192414854/Aked_Jones_Miller_Counterjihad_report_2019.pdf|last1=Aked|first1=H.|last2=Jones|first2=M.|last3=Miller|first3=D.|year=2019|title=Islamophobia in Europe: How governments are enabling the far-right 'counter-jihad' movement|series=Public Interest Investigations|publisher=University of Bristol|pages=32–33|isbn=9780957027497|access-date=24 November 2022 |archive-date=18 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318214454/https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/192414854/Aked_Jones_Miller_Counterjihad_report_2019.pdf |url-status=live|hdl=1983/cd525157-683a-493b-b27f-9a5ffbca312c|hdl-access=free}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bq-IDwAAQBAJ|title=Soldiers of a Different God: How the Counter-Jihad Movement Created Mayhem, Murder and the Trump Presidency|date= 2018|publisher=Amberley Publishing|isbn=9781445678009|last=Othen|first=Christopher|pages=19, 233, 271}}

In January 2025 the Karlsruhe branch of the AfD initiated a controversial campaign by distributing flyers resembling flight tickets labeled "Abschiebetickets" ("deportation tickets") in mailboxes. These flyers included a QR code linking to AfD Karlsruhe's website and were intended as promotional material for the upcoming Bundestag elections. The action prompted investigations by the criminal police on suspicions of incitement to hatred (Volksverhetzung).{{Cite web |title=German police investigate AfD mock plane ticket campaign |url=https://www.dw.com/en/german-police-investigate-afd-mock-plane-ticket-campaign/a-71302261 |access-date=17 January 2025 |website=Deutsche Welle |date=15 January 2025 }}{{Cite web |title=AfD verteilt 'Abschiebetickets' |trans-title=AfD Distributes 'Deportation Tickets' |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/regional/badenwuerttemberg/afd-abschiebung-bundestagswahlkampf-abschiebetickets-migration-100.html |date=16 January 2025 |access-date=17 January 2025 |website=Tagesschau |language=de}}

In January 2025, after a deadly knife attack perpetrated by an Afghan migrant, who had no residence permit, the CDU issued a motion regarding migration into the federal parliament, which attained a majority due to the AfD voting alongside the CDU.{{cite news |title=As Germany braces for election, backing the far-right AfD no longer a taboo |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/3/germany-breaks-far-right-afd-taboo |work=Al Jazeera |date=3 February 2025}}{{Cite web |date=29 January 2025 |title=Das Ende der "Brandmauer"? Merz' Asylpolitik und die AfD |trans-title=The end of the "firewall"? Merz's asylum policy and the AfD |url=https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/merz-cdu-grenzschliessungen-afd-100.html |access-date=29 January 2025 |website=Deutschlandfunk |language=de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124165755/https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/merz-cdu-grenzschliessungen-afd-100.html |archive-date=24 January 2025 |url-status=live}} With this motion, CDU leader Friedrich Merz ignored his own proposal, uttered in November 2024, to only put questions to the vote that would find a majority without the AfD.{{Cite news |last=Ruhnow |first=Evelin |date=31 January 2025 |title=Friedrich Merz: Sammlung seiner Aussagen zur Zusammenarbeit mit der AfD |trans-title=Mr. Friedrich Merz: Collection of his statements on cooperation with the AfD |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/friedrich-merz-sammlung-seiner-aussagen-zur-zusammenarbeit-mit-der-afd-a-52810f3c-6fbf-4668-82bf-22792883333f |access-date=22 February 2025 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250218100645/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/friedrich-merz-sammlung-seiner-aussagen-zur-zusammenarbeit-mit-der-afd-a-52810f3c-6fbf-4668-82bf-22792883333f |archive-date=18 February 2025 |url-status=live}} The Bundestag went on to reject the CDU's proposed legislation a few days later, largely due to a dozen CDU legislators abstaining, a decision seen to be sparked by the AfD-related controversy.{{Cite web |date=31 January 2025 |title=Merz's far-right gamble backfires |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/friedrich-merz-germany-gamble-to-accept-far-right-support-fails-in-parliament-afd-cdu-migration/ |access-date=6 February 2025 |website=Politico Europe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250207055327/https://www.politico.eu/article/friedrich-merz-germany-gamble-to-accept-far-right-support-fails-in-parliament-afd-cdu-migration/ |archive-date=7 February 2025 |url-status=live}}

File:Elections in Saxony May 2024; Election Poster Vandalism (EPV) by taking down election posters; Symbolic image; Shooting location Sebnitz in Saxony;.jpg"]]

According to its interim electoral manifesto, AfD opposes same-sex marriage and favours civil unions. AfD deputy leader Beatrix von Storch has publicly opposed same-sex marriage. In an effort to overturn same-sex marriage laws, AfD filed a lawsuit over the issue in 2017.{{cite web |last=Treeck |first=Johanna |date=2 July 2017 |title=Germany's AfD threatens law suit over gay marriage |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/germanys-afd-threatens-law-suit-over-gay-marriage/ |accessdate=31 October 2021 |website=Politico |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330205251/https://www.politico.eu/article/germanys-afd-threatens-law-suit-over-gay-marriage/ |url-status=live }}

Alice Weidel, co-chairwoman of the party, is a lesbian and is in a civil union with a female Sri Lankan-born Swiss film producer. Weidel has two adopted children with her partner.{{cite news |url=http://rtlnext.rtl.de/cms/afd-kandidatin-alice-weidel-mit-coming-out-auf-der-wahlkampf-buehne-ich-bin-homosexuell-4127276.html |title=AfD-Kandidatin Alice Weidel mit Coming-out auf der Wahlkampf-Bühne: 'Ich bin homosexuell' |language=de |work=RTL Next |date=21 September 2017 |access-date=27 December 2021 |archive-date=22 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922050714/http://rtlnext.rtl.de/cms/afd-kandidatin-alice-weidel-mit-coming-out-auf-der-wahlkampf-buehne-ich-bin-homosexuell-4127276.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Steiner |first=Thomas |url=http://www.badische-zeitung.de/deutschland-1/das-neue-gesicht-der-afd-wer-ist-eigentlich-alice-weidel--135970692.html |title=Das neue Gesicht der AfD: Wer ist eigentlich Alice Weidel? |language=de |work=Badische Zeitung |date=23 April 2017 |access-date=27 December 2021 |archive-date=1 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501200418/http://www.badische-zeitung.de/deutschland-1/das-neue-gesicht-der-afd-wer-ist-eigentlich-alice-weidel--135970692.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article164121228/AfD-Frontfrau-Alice-Weidel-hat-einen-Wohnsitz-in-der-Schweiz.html |title=AfD-Frontfrau Alice Weidel hat einen Wohnsitz in der Schweiz |language=de |work=Die Welt |date=29 April 2017 |access-date=27 December 2021 |archive-date=27 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827215637/https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article164121228/AfD-Frontfrau-Alice-Weidel-hat-einen-Wohnsitz-in-der-Schweiz.html |url-status=live }}

Hans-Christoph Berndt, the AfD's lead candidate for the 2024 Brandenburg state election, announced that, if elected, he would ban the practice of displaying rainbow flags on public buildings in the state.{{Cite web |date=16 July 2024 |title=Sie überbieten sich in Flüchtlingsfeindlichkeit |lang=de |trans-title=They outdo each other in their hostility towards refugees |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/wahlkampf-schnellroda-100.html |access-date=9 December 2024 |website=Tagesschau }} The AfD parliamentary group of the Landtag of Lower Saxony also introduced a motion to ban rainbow flags from public buildings in 2024.{{Cite web |date=8 February 2024 |title=AfD will Regenbogenflagge vor öffentlichen Gebäuden verbieten |url=https://www.tageblatt.de/Nachrichten/AfD-gegen-Regenbogenflagge-vor-oeffentlichen-Gebaeuden-Kritik-382531.html |access-date=9 December 2024 |website=Tageblatt.de |trans-title=AfD Calls for Ban on Rainbow Flags at Public Buildings}}

AfD supports a ban on circumcision for non-medical reasons for those under the age of majority, saying that the practice constituted "serious violations of fundamental rights".{{cite web |date=11 March 2016 |title=Far-right Germans call to ban circumcision and minarets |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/afd-far-right-german-party-wants-restrict-muslim-jewish-religious-practices-frauke-petry-circumcision-minarets/ |first=Ivo |last=Oliveira |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101220736/https://www.politico.eu/article/afd-far-right-german-party-wants-restrict-muslim-jewish-religious-practices-frauke-petry-circumcision-minarets/ |archive-date=1 November 2021 |access-date=1 November 2021 |website=Politico}}

The left-leaning newspaper Die Tageszeitung described the party as advocating "old gender roles".{{Cite news|url = http://taz.de/Entwurf-fuer-AfD-Programm/!5290716/|title = Entwurf für AfD-Programm: Neue Asylpolitik, alte Genderrollen|work = Die tageszeitung|access-date = 24 March 2016|archive-date = 25 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160325221231/http://taz.de/Entwurf-fuer-AfD-Programm/!5290716/|url-status = live}} Wolfgang Gedeon, an elected AfD representative, has included feminism, along with "sexualism" and "migrationism", in an ideology he calls "green communism" that he opposes, and argues for family values as part of German identity.{{cite news|last=Heni|first=Clemens|title=Germany's Hot New Party Thinks America is 'Run by Zionists'|url=http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/209243/germanys-hot-new-party|work=Tablet Magazine|date=1 August 2016|access-date=8 March 2017|archive-date=12 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212134843/https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/209243/germanys-hot-new-party|url-status=live}} As AfD has campaigned for traditional roles for women, it has aligned itself with groups opposed to modern feminism.{{cite journal |last=Kemper |first=Andreas |date=March 2014 |url=http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/dialog/10641.pdf |title=Keimzelle der Nation? Familien- und geschlechter-politische Positionen der AfD – eine Expertise |trans-title=Germ cell of the nation? Family and gender political positions of the AfD – an expertise |journal=Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Forum Politik und Gesellschaft |language=de |access-date=8 March 2017 |archive-date=6 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806024557/https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/dialog/10641.pdf |url-status=live }} The youth wing of the party has used social media to campaign against aspects of modern feminism, with the support of party leadership.{{cite news|url=https://www.thelocal.de/20140331/german-anti-euro-party-afd-turns-anti-feminist-alternative-for-germany-facebook|title=Anti-euro party turns anti-feminist|website=The Local Germany|date=31 March 2014|publisher=Thelocal.de|access-date=17 March 2017|archive-date=31 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131200641/https://www.thelocal.de/20140331/german-anti-euro-party-afd-turns-anti-feminist-alternative-for-germany-facebook|url-status=live}}

AfD is an economically liberal party.{{cite news |url=https://m.bpb.de/politik/grundfragen/parteien-in-deutschland/afd/273133/organisation |title=Die Organisation der AfD |newspaper=BPB.de |date=26 October 2020 |access-date=1 July 2021 |archive-date=4 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604012133/https://m.bpb.de/politik/grundfragen/parteien-in-deutschland/afd/273133/organisation |url-status=live }} Despite the 2015 split of economic liberals, AfD can still be broadly characterized as neoliberal on economic terms, emphasizing deregulation and much limited state intervention. Attempts by some party factions to emphasize small and medium-sized enterprises, and advocate protectionism over free trade, have not had much success.

AfD has a platform of climate change denial.{{cite news|url=http://www.dw.com/en/what-does-the-afd-stand-for/a-19100127|title=What does the AfD stand for?|last=Knight|first=Ben|date=7 March 2016|publisher=Deutsche Welle|quote=It's skeptical of climate change and against Germany's energy transition.|access-date=19 January 2017|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202070711/http://www.dw.com/en/what-does-the-afd-stand-for/a-19100127|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last=Küppers |first=Anne |date=29 March 2022 |title='Climate-Soviets,' 'Alarmism,' and 'Eco-Dictatorship': The Framing of Climate Change Scepticism by the Populist Radical Right Alternative for Germany |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644008.2022.2056596 |journal=German Politics |volume=33 |pages=1–21 |doi=10.1080/09644008.2022.2056596 |s2cid=247809772 |issn=0964-4008 |access-date=1 August 2022 |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814091703/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644008.2022.2056596 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }} AfD accepts that the climate is changing, however, it denies that this change is attributable to human influences. Instead the party argues that climate change is entirely caused by natural factors. AfD argues that the rising carbon dioxide concentrations have been beneficial (contributed to a "greening" of Earth).{{Cite book |publisher=Alternative für Deutschland |url=https://www.afd.de/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2021/06/20210611_AfD_Programm_2021.pdf |title=Deutschland aber normal. Programm der Alternative für Deutschland für die Wahl zum 20. Deutschen Bundestag |year=2021 |access-date=1 August 2022 |archive-date=26 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926151538/https://www.afd.de/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2021/06/20210611_AfD_Programm_2021.pdf |url-status=live }} Next to its climate change denial, AfD opposes far-reaching climate policies: The party opposes energy transformation policies (Energiewende), wants to scrap the German Renewable Energy Act, the German Energy Saving Regulations, and the German Renewable Energy Heat Act. They also want to end bioenergy subsidies and restrict "uncontrolled expansion of wind energy".{{cite web|url = https://cdn.afd.tools/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2017/04/2017-04-12_afd-grundsatzprogramm-englisch_web.pdf|title = Manifesto for Germany|publisher = Alternative for Germany|access-date = 27 December 2021|archive-date = 11 February 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220211061309/https://cdn.afd.tools/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2017/04/2017-04-12_afd-grundsatzprogramm-englisch_web.pdf|url-status = dead}} The party rejects the European Green Deal and has warned against the deindustrialization of Europe.{{cite news |title=Far-right AfD lead candidate for EU election rejects Green Deal |url=https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/far-right-afd-lead-candidate-eu-election-rejects-green-deal |work=Clean Energy Wire |date=31 July 2023}}

The party argues that the energy transition threatens energy security, possibly leading to energy blackouts. It, therefore, views lignite as the only native energy source that can guarantee German energy security and energy self-sufficiency. Furthermore, AfD wants to reinstate Germany's nuclear plants, arguing that closures between 2002 and 2011 were "economically damaging and not objectively justified". The party argues that the government should "allow a lifetime extension of still operating nuclear power plants on a transitional basis". The party opposes the criminalization of ecocide in the European Union, with Gunnar Beck, an MEP for AfD, stating that "recognizing crimes against the environment as a violation of human rights and even war crimes is yet another grotesque inflation of the human rights doctrine."{{Cite news |date=8 April 2021 |title=The global campaign to make environmental destruction an international crime |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/ecocide-environmental-crime/ |access-date=10 July 2023 |work=Politico |archive-date=10 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710170809/https://www.politico.eu/article/ecocide-environmental-crime/ |url-status=live}}

AfD wants a reinstatement of conscription in Germany, starting for able-bodied men at the age of 18.{{cite news |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/afd-mitgliederbefragung-wehrpflicht-ja-doppelpass-nein-14114085.html |title=Alternative für Deutschland Zurück zur Wehrpflicht |date=9 March 2016 |work=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung |language=de |issn=0174-4909 |access-date=24 March 2016 |archive-date=25 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325221636/http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/afd-mitgliederbefragung-wehrpflicht-ja-doppelpass-nein-14114085.html |url-status=live}}

{{see also|AfD pro-Russia movement}}

While AfD had been pro-NATO and pro-United States during the first Trump administration, it had been sharply critical of the Biden administration.{{Citation |title=Die USA von Biden & Soros sind nicht unser Freund! Petr Bystron – AfD-Fraktion im Bundestag |language=de |date=2 April 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR3koqxSKuY |access-date=7 June 2023 |archive-date=30 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630222643/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR3koqxSKuY |url-status=live}} It was significantly divided on whether to support Russia,{{Cite journal|last=Brandt|first=Linda|date=2015|title=Populist Parties in Germany, France, and the UK: Growing Support for a Radical Rejection of Globalization?|url=https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1038&context=irj|journal=International ResearchScape Journal|volume=3|pages=19|doi=10.25035/irj.03.01.04|quote=Likewise, the AfD professes its desire to maintain an intimate security relationship with the US, stating NATO is, and remains, the bond of a transatlantic security architecture, whose crucial anchor is the alliance with the USA."38 However, it also expresses a need for a closer relationship with Russia to resolve problems in Eastern Europe. However, a resolution passed that calls for an end to European sanctions imposed on Russia, and to abstain from further measures designed to bind Ukraine and EU or Ukraine and Russia closer together, has led some to charge the party with anti-Americanism.39 The debate about a more pro-American or pro-Russian course appears to divide the AfD deeply, and opinions differ significantly among even the party leadership, as a Die Welt article reports.|doi-access=free|access-date=1 March 2018|archive-date=23 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623194716/http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1038&context=irj|url-status=live}} but has since moved to a pro-Russian direction, opposing sanctions on Russia supported by NATO and the United States and calling for an end to military aid to Ukraine. It is also divided on free-trade agreements. In March 2019, party leader Alexander Gauland said in an interview with the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda that they consider the war in Donbas to be a Ukrainian internal matter, and that Germany should not get involved in the internal affairs of Ukraine or Russia. He also said AfD is against international sanctions on Russia.{{cite web |last=Chesnokov |first=Edvard |date=9 March 2019 |url=https://www.kp.ru/daily/26951.5/4003938/ |title=Глава партии «Альтернатива для Германии» Александр Гауланд: Ситуация в Донбассе – это внутреннее дело России и Украины |trans-title=Alexander Gauland, head of the Alternative for Germany party: The situation in Donbass is an internal affair between Russia and Ukraine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190314231826/https://www.kp.ru/daily/26951.5/4003938/ |archive-date=14 March 2019 |lang=ru |work=Komsomolskaya Pravda |access-date=9 March 2019 }} AfD members have called for a more independent stance from the United States.{{Cite press release |date=1 September 2021 |title=Hampel: Die Rolle der USA als Weltpolizist ist ausgespielt |trans-title=Hampel: The USA's role as the world's policeman has been played out |url=https://afdbundestag.de/hampel-die-rolle-der-usa-als-weltpolizist-ist-ausgespielt/ |access-date=7 June 2023 |website=AfD-Fraktion im deutschen Bundestag |language=de-DE |archive-date=15 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715014020/https://afdbundestag.de/hampel-die-rolle-der-usa-als-weltpolizist-ist-ausgespielt/ |url-status=live }}{{cite press release |date=8 February 2022 |title=Joachim Wundrak: Scholz gibt Richtlinienkompetenz an Biden ab |url=https://afdbundestag.de/joachim-wundrak-scholz-gibt-richtlinienkompetenz-an-biden-ab/ |access-date=7 June 2023 |website=AfD-Fraktion im deutschen Bundestag |language=de-DE |archive-date=7 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607200902/https://afdbundestag.de/joachim-wundrak-scholz-gibt-richtlinienkompetenz-an-biden-ab/ |url-status=live }} The party has also endorsed accusations that the United States was involved in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage.{{Cite press release |date=23 March 2023 |title=Tino Chrupalla: Vorwürfe von Seymour Hersh untersuchen |url=https://afdbundestag.de/tino-chrupalla-vorwuerfe-von-seymour-hersh-untersuchen/ |access-date=7 June 2023 |website=AfD-Fraktion im deutschen Bundestag |language=de-DE |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603034708/https://afdbundestag.de/tino-chrupalla-vorwuerfe-von-seymour-hersh-untersuchen/ |url-status=live }} AfD has also called NATO's anti-Russian stance overly ideological and detrimental to Germany's interests.{{Cite web |last=Rebecca |date=30 June 2022 |title=Tino Chrupalla: Neue Nato-Strategie treibt Keil in den Kontinent Europa |url=https://afdbundestag.de/tino-chrupalla-neue-nato-strategie-treibt-keil-in-den-kontinent-europa/ |access-date=7 June 2023 |website=AfD-Fraktion im deutschen Bundestag |language=de-DE |archive-date=15 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715014020/https://afdbundestag.de/tino-chrupalla-neue-nato-strategie-treibt-keil-in-den-kontinent-europa/ |url-status=live }} A large number of AfD delegates boycotted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in June 2024 when he gave a speech to the Bundestag. In February 2025, some high-ranking AfD members criticized Chrupalla's pro-Moscow position on foreign policy.{{cite news |title=Germany's rising far-right AfD is split over Israel. Jews call party 'a danger' either way |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/germanys-rising-far-right-afd-is-split-over-israel-jews-call-party-a-danger-either-way/ |work=The Times of Israel |date=23 February 2025}}

An Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) investigation from February 2023 found evidence that AfD is a key ally for the International Agency for Current Policy, an organization established by Russian parliamentary staffer Sargis Mirzakhanian whose internal documents describe it as a "closed association of professionals" engaged in a variety of pro-Russian activities.{{Cite web |author1=Martin Laine |author2=Cecilia Anesi |author3=Lorenzo Bagnoli |author4=Tatiana Tkachenko |title=Kremlin-Linked Group Arranged Payments to European Politicians to Support Russia's Annexation of Crimea |url=https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/kremlin-linked-group-arranged-payments-to-european-politicians-to-support-russias-annexation-of-crimea |access-date=22 February 2025 |website=OCCRP |archive-date=4 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204102108/https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/kremlin-linked-group-arranged-payments-to-european-politicians-to-support-russias-annexation-of-crimea |url-status=live}} These include organizing street protests against NATO, bringing European delegations to Moscow and Crimea, and targeting "national parliaments of the EU" with resolutions to end EU sanctions on Russia and to grant recognition to Russia's annexation of Crimea. Internal emails, including some from Mirzakhanyan, document substantial payments to EU politicians made in exchange for pro-Kremlin motions in their home countries, and to {{ill|Manuel Ochsenreiter|de}} for publishing pro-Russian propaganda in his {{lang|de|Zuerst!}} magazine.

In August 2023 a journalist investigation was published by The Insider, describing how money was funnelled from Moscow to AfD politicians who initiated a constitutional complaint in Germany against the supplies of weapons for Ukraine.{{Cite web |date=4 August 2023 |title=Exclusive: Far-right German parliamentary aide tasked by Russia with stopping Leopard tanks to Ukraine |url=https://theins.info/en/politics/264014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805115126/https://theins.info/en/politics/264014 |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 August 2023 |access-date= |website=The Insider |language=ru }} The AfD supported peace negotiations on the Russo-Ukrainian War with the participation of Russia.{{cite news |title=Far-right AfD cheers Scholz's call for peace summit with Russia |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/far-right-afd-cheers-scholzs-call-for-peace-summit-with-russia/ |work=Euractiv |date=9 September 2024}}

AfD initially held a position of soft Euroscepticism by opposing the euro currency and Eurozone bailouts, which the party saw as undermining European integration, but it was otherwise supportive of German membership of the European Union (EU).

Since 2015, the party has shifted to a more purely Eurosceptic and nationalist position against the EU, calling for the withdrawal from the common European asylum and security policy, significant reform of the EU and a repatriation of powers back from Brussels with some party members endorsing a complete exit from the European Union if these aims are not achievable.{{cite news|title= AfD chief Lucke denies plans to split the party|url= https://www.dw.com/en/afd-chief-lucke-denies-plans-to-split-the-party/a-18460878|work= Deutsche Welle|date= 19 May 2015|access-date= 8 September 2019|archive-date= 10 August 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200810085714/https://www.dw.com/en/afd-chief-lucke-denies-plans-to-split-the-party/a-18460878|url-status= live}}{{cite news|title= The Far Right Wants to Gut the EU, Not Kill It|url= https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/05/far-right-politicians-euroskeptics-election-europe/588316/|work= The Atlantic|date= 7 May 2019|access-date= 8 September 2019|archive-date= 15 June 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190615174850/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/05/far-right-politicians-euroskeptics-election-europe/588316/|url-status= live}}{{cite news|title= AfD party congress over 'Dexit'|url= https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2019-01/afd-parteitag-riesa-kandidaten-europawahl-andre-poggenburg|work= Zeit Online|date= 12 January 2019|access-date= 8 September 2019|archive-date= 26 April 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190426045703/https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2019-01/afd-parteitag-riesa-kandidaten-europawahl-andre-poggenburg|url-status= live}}{{cite news|title= AfD party congress: Back to a 'Europe of nations'|url= https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-elections-2019/news/afd-party-congress-back-to-a-europe-of-nations/|work= Euractiv|date= 14 January 2019|access-date= 10 September 2019|archive-date= 3 September 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190903143450/https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-elections-2019/news/afd-party-congress-back-to-a-europe-of-nations/|url-status= live}}

During the 2021 party conference in Dresden, a majority of AfD members voted to include more hardline policies against the European Union including German withdrawal from the bloc in the party's manifesto ahead of the 2021 German federal election.{{Cite web|url = https://www.dw.com/en/far-right-afd-calls-for-normal-germany-at-conference/a-57156531|title = Far-right AfD calls for 'normal' Germany at conference | DW | 11.04.2021|website = Deutsche Welle|access-date = 11 April 2021|archive-date = 11 April 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210411031035/https://www.dw.com/en/far-right-afd-calls-for-normal-germany-at-conference/a-57156531|url-status = live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/afd-bundesparteitag-kandidatenkuer-1.5260538|title=Parteitag in Dresden: AfD bläst Kandidatenkür ab|first1=Markus|last1=Balser|first2=Jens|last2=Schneider|date=10 April 2021|work=Süddeutsche Zeitung|access-date=11 April 2021|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411031030/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/afd-bundesparteitag-kandidatenkuer-1.5260538|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.tagesschau.de/thema/afd/|title=AfD|website=tagesschau.de|accessdate=31 March 2023|archive-date=30 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330231724/https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/podolay-afd-101.html|url-status=live}}

Since 2025 the AfD has been working with Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán. Alice Weidel praised Hungary as a model for AfD, saying that AfD shares Hungary's opposition to illegal immigration and stance on the European Union.{{cite news |title=Hungary's Orban hosts Germany's AfD leader Alice Weidel |url=https://www.dw.com/en/hungarys-orban-hosts-germanys-afd-leader-alice-weidel/a-71590300 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=13 February 2025}} In February 2025 Weidel stated about AfD's policy towards the European Union: "We should work together to reform the European Union at all costs. And that can only be done from within. We can achieve this by reducing the competences of the European Union, by dismantling the entire bureaucratic, expensive — and, in my view, corrupt — superstructure."{{cite news |title=German far right wants to join forces with Orbán to dismantle EU from within |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/alternative-for-germany-afd-alice-weidel-far-right-viktor-orban-hungary/ |work=Politico |date=12 February 2025}}

The party had previously been pro-Israel.{{cite news |date=17 April 2018 |title=German far-right MP pushes recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital |work=The Times of Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/german-far-right-mp-pushes-recognition-of-jerusalem-as-israels-capital/ |access-date=8 January 2019 |archive-date=1 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501093617/https://www.timesofisrael.com/german-far-right-mp-pushes-recognition-of-jerusalem-as-israels-capital/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |date=28 November 2017 |title=AfD: A New Hurdle in the German-Israeli Relationship? |url=https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/afd-germany-israel-antisemitism/ |website=besacenter.org |publisher=Begin–Sadat Center for Strategic Studies |access-date=8 July 2018 |archive-date=8 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708133206/https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/afd-germany-israel-antisemitism/ |url-status=live }} AfD supported the decision of US president Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, as stated by AfD's Petr Bystron. Despite AfD's pro-Israel stance, the State of Israel has boycotted the party and refuses to hold ties with AfD. The party was divided over the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, with party leader Chrupalla condemning the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel but calling for diplomacy between the two sides and mourning deaths on both sides, while other MPs, such as Norbert Kleinwächter and Rüdiger Lucassen were critical of Chrupalla's position and openly defended Israeli actions during the conflict.{{cite news|work=ZDF Heute|title=AfD streitet über Israel-Unterstützung|date=15 October 2023|url=https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/ausland/afd-chrupalla-israel-hamas-100.html|access-date=26 December 2023|archive-date=26 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231226125139/https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/ausland/afd-chrupalla-israel-hamas-100.html|url-status=live}} Following the Hamas attack, the party supported cuts in German aid to Palestine via the UNRWA.{{cite news|work=Deutsche Welle|title=Where does Europe's far right stand on the Israel-Hamas war?|url=https://www.dw.com/en/where-do-europes-far-right-parties-stand-on-the-israel-hamas-conflict/a-67465217|date=18 November 2023|access-date=26 December 2023|archive-date=26 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231226125650/https://www.dw.com/en/where-do-europes-far-right-parties-stand-on-the-israel-hamas-conflict/a-67465217|url-status=live}}

In 2024 AfD reversed its previously pro-Israel position, with co-leader Tino Chrupalla calling for an end to Germany's current relationship with Israel, which Chrupalla described as "one-sided", as well as an end to arms exports to Israel during the Gaza war.{{cite web | url=https://rmx.news/article/germany-afd-leader-rejects-arms-exports-and-one-sided-support-for-israel-calls-for-end-to-blanket-islamophobia/ | title=Germany: AfD leader rejects arms exports and 'one-sided' support for Israel, calls for end to 'blanket Islamophobia' | date=21 October 2024 }} This decision drew criticism from some other members of the AfD parliamentary group, suggesting a continued internal divide on the issue.{{cite news|work=Welt|title='Ich verstehe nicht, wieso wir als AfD nun Israel in den Rücken fallen'|date=18 October 2024|url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article254080382/AfD-Kritik-an-Chrupalla-Ich-verstehe-nicht-wieso-wir-als-AfD-nun-Israel-in-den-Ruecken-fallen.html}} Chrupalla criticized the German government's support for Israel during the Gaza war and rejected "blanket" Islamophobia. Some AfD members condemned the genocide in Gaza. Nevertheless, in January 2025, the other co-leader, Alice Weidel, affirmed her support for Israel, but noted that she "didn't know how she would solve this conflict".{{cite news|work=Euronews|title=Germany's far-right AfD chief pushes back on Nazi claims in chat with Elon Musk on X|url=https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/01/09/elon-musk-and-germanys-far-right-chief-host-online-chat-the-eu-warns-could-be-illegal}} Chrupalla and Weidel have been described as divided on the issue of Israel, with Weidel continuing to affirm German support for Israel's right to self-defence.{{cite news|work=Haaretz|date=26 November 2024|title=How the Israel-Gaza War Divided Germany's Far-right AfD Party|url=https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/2024-11-26/ty-article/.premium/how-the-israel-gaza-war-has-divided-germanys-far-right-afd-party/00000193-63d7-db85-a593-67df42400000}}

Although the Israeli Foreign Ministry continues to have no contact with AfD,{{cite news|work=Times of Israel|title=Breaking taboo, Foreign Ministry holding talks with three European far-right parties|date=24 February 2025|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/breaking-taboo-foreign-ministry-holding-talks-with-three-european-far-right-parties/}} Israeli Diaspora Affairs minister Amichai Chikli has praised several of AfD's policy stances and expressed support for Weidel, while criticising historical revisionist elements within the party, represented by Maximilian Krah and Björn Höcke.{{cite news|work=All Israel|title=Reaching out to Europe's rising Right: Israel's Diaspora Minister Chikli explains approach to German AfD party|date=25 February 2025|url=https://allisrael.com/reaching-out-to-europe-s-rising-right-israel-s-diaspora-minister-chikli-explains-approach-to-german-afd-party}}{{Cite tweet|user=AmichaiChikli|number=1894093914417574169|title=Unlike most European right-wing parties that belong to the Patriots and ECR groups in the European Parliament—parties that show unequivocal support for Israel based on shared values, respect for Jewish communities in their countries, and a common struggle against radical Islam—the AfD speaks in two voices.}}

In 2018 and 2019, AfD Bundestag members visited Ba'athist Syria, meeting with senior officials from the government of Bashar al-Assad and advocating for the return of Syrian refugees.{{cite news|work=Deutsche Welle|title=AfD lawmakers meet Assad ministers in Syria|date=22 November 2019|url=https://corporate.dw.com/en/far-right-german-afd-lawmakers-meet-assad-representatives-in-syria/a-51376553}}{{cite news|work=Deutsche Welle|title=AfD politicians in Syria over refugee returns|date=3 June 2018|url=https://www.dw.com/en/german-far-right-afd-politicians-travel-to-syria-in-effort-to-send-back-refugees/a-42846789}}

AfD views on China have varied. The party had previously demanded the German government to strip the "developing country" status for China, voicing opposition to "Chinese economic espionage" and opposing Chinese state-owned company COSCO Shipping buying of a stake in the Port of Hamburg.{{Cite news |last=Kastner |first=Jens |date=20 April 2023 |title=China finds unlikely allies in Germany's far right and far left |work=Nikkei Asia |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-finds-unlikely-allies-in-Germany-s-far-right-and-far-left |access-date=12 May 2023 |archive-date=11 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511200409/https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-finds-unlikely-allies-in-Germany-s-far-right-and-far-left |url-status=live }}

However, it started changing its position in 2023, with AfD's Bundestag caucus accusing foreign minister Annalena Baerbock and economic affairs minister Robert Habeck of launching an "economic war" against China. AfD has also criticized restrictions on the use of 5G material from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. AfD leader Tino Chrupalla has also voiced opposition to restrictions on Chinese technology and backed Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang on his peace-brokering efforts for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

AfD currently calls for closer economic, cultural and scientific relations with China.{{Cite news |last1=Koch |first1=Jonas E. |last2=Engert |first2=Alexandra |date=28 January 2025 |title=Bundestagswahl: Wer will was in der Außenpolitik? |url=https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2024-11/faq-wahl-parteien-aussenpolitik#wie-gehen-die-parteien-mit-china-um |access-date=22 February 2025 |work=Die Zeit |language=de-DE |issn=0044-2070}} Nevertheless, in their manifesto for the 2025 federal election, AfD has also called for limits in the involvement of Chinese companies in Germany's seaports and digital infrastructure.{{Cite news |date=12 January 2025 |title=German far-right party wants to limit Chinese firms' role in ports and digital networks |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3294390/german-far-right-party-wants-limit-chinese-firms-role-ports-and-digital-networks |access-date=12 January 2025 |work=South China Morning Post}} It is also opposed to further development aid, including those that would benefit climate change programs or Chinese students in Germany.

{{See also|List of Alternative for Germany politicians}}

{{further|Party finance in Germany}}

Because the 2013 federal election was the first attempt to join by the party, AfD had not received any federal funds in the run-up to it;{{cite news|last=von Petterdorff-Campen|first=Winand |title='Alternative für Deutschland' Haste mal 'ne Mark?|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/alternative-fuer-deutschland-haste-mal-ne-mark-12156430.html|access-date=21 September 2013|date=21 April 2013|language=de|archive-date=18 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130918020451/http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/alternative-fuer-deutschland-haste-mal-ne-mark-12156430.html|url-status=live}} by receiving 2 million votes, it crossed the threshold for party funding and was expected to receive an estimated 1.3 to 1.5 million euros per year of state subsidies.[https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article120476123/Verzaehlt-Nachschlag-fuer-die-AfD-in-Frankfurt.html Verzählt – Nachschlag für die AfD in Frankfurt (in German, Subsidies for AfD).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517041940/https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article120476123/Verzaehlt-Nachschlag-fuer-die-AfD-in-Frankfurt.html |date=17 May 2023 }} Die Welt. 28 September 2013 After joining the parliament with more than 90 representatives in the 2017 federal election, the party received more than 70 million euros per year; this probably rose to more than 100 million euros per year from 2019 onward. The party has also established and acknowledged a foundation for political education, and other purposes, close to the party but organized separately, which may be able to claim up to 80 million euros per year.[https://rp-online.de/politik/deutschland/afd-erhaelt-rund-400-millionen-euro-vom-staat_aid-20700033 AfD erhält rund 400 Millionen Euro vom Staat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911081853/https://rp-online.de/politik/deutschland/afd-erhaelt-rund-400-millionen-euro-vom-staat_aid-20700033 |date=11 September 2018 }}. This foundation would need to be acknowledged by the federal parliament in Germany first, but it has a legal claim to these subsidies.

In 2018 the Alternative for Germany donation scandal became public, as federal and European Parliament politicians Alice Weidel, Jörg Meuthen, Marcus Pretzell, and Guido Reil had profited from illegal and unnamed donations from non-EU countries. The acceptance of donations from non-EU countries is prohibited for German parties and politicians.

{{Main|Young Alternative for Germany}}

Young Alternative for Germany ({{langx|de|Junge Alternative für Deutschland}}, JA) was founded in 2013 as the youth organisation of AfD, while remaining legally independent from its mother party. In view of JA's independence, it has been regarded by some in AfD's hierarchy as being somewhat wayward,{{cite news |last=Lamparski |first=NIna |date=12 May 2014 |title=Germany's youth rebels against EU |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27341876 |access-date=12 May 2014 |archive-date=12 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512151812/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27341876 |url-status=live }} with JA repeatedly accused of being "too far-right",{{cite news |last=Krass |first=Sebastian |date=31 March 2014 |title=Zu weit rechts |language=de |work=Süddeutsche Zeitung |url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/wahlkampf-der-afd-jugend-zu-weit-rechts-1.1922788 |access-date=12 May 2014 |archive-date=2 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502235131/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/wahlkampf-der-afd-jugend-zu-weit-rechts-1.1922788 |url-status=live }} politically regressive and antifeminist by the German mainstream media.{{cite news |last=White |first=J. Arthur |date=31 March 2014 |title=Anti-euro party turns anti-feminist |website=The Local Germany |url=http://www.thelocal.de/20140331/german-anti-euro-party-afd-turns-anti-feminist-alternative-for-germany-facebook |access-date=11 May 2014 |archive-date=23 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523225136/http://www.thelocal.de/20140331/german-anti-euro-party-afd-turns-anti-feminist-alternative-for-germany-facebook |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=1 April 2014 |title=Anti-feminist campaign targets German gender quota proposal |publisher=Al Jazeera |url=http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201404012147-0023610 |url-status=dead |access-date=12 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523225935/http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201404012147-0023610 |archive-date=23 May 2014}}

In December 2024 the main party of the AfD announced its intention to cut ties with the JA in connection to its classification by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. AfD leadership are planning to found a new organisation as its youth wing.{{cite web |title=AfD will sich von Jugendorganisation trennen |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/afd-junge-alternative-100.html |website=Tagesschau |access-date=3 December 2024 |language=German}} On 12 January 2025, AfD leadership voted to formally replace the JA as its youth organisation.{{cite web |title=Germany's far-right AfD replaces 'Young Alternative' group |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-far-right-afd-replaces-young-alternative-group/a-71278353 |website=Deutsche Welle |access-date=13 January 2025 |date=12 January 2025}}

Following the 2014 European Parliament election on 12 June, AfD was accepted into the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament. In February 2016, AfD announced a closer cooperation with the right-wing populist party Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), which was a member of the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group. On 8 March 2016, the bureau of the ECR group began motions to exclude AfD MEPs from their group due to the party's links with the far-right FPÖ and controversial remarks by two party leaders about shooting immigrants. MEP Beatrix von Storch pre-empted her imminent expulsion by leaving the ECR group to join the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group on 8 April, and Marcus Pretzell was expelled from the ECR group on 12 April 2016. During the party convention on 30 April 2016, Pretzell announced his intention to join the Europe of Nations and Freedom group,{{Cite web|url=http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/german-afd-lawmaker-to-align-with-faction-of-frances-national-front_453117.html|title=Europe Online |website=en.europeonline-magazine.eu|accessdate=31 March 2023|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404225102/http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/german-afd-lawmaker-to-align-with-faction-of-frances-national-front_453117.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2016-04/pretzell-wechsel-fraktion-eu-parlament-front-national|title=AfD: EU-Abgeordneter Pretzell wechselt zur Front-National-Fraktion|date=30 April 2016|work=Die Zeit|access-date=30 April 2016|archive-date=17 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517043446/https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2016-04/pretzell-wechsel-fraktion-eu-parlament-front-national|url-status=live}} although he subsequently left AfD to join Petry's Blue Party.{{Cite news|work=Deutsche Welle|title=Frauke Petry founded 'Blue party' ahead of national elections – reports|date=12 October 2017|url=https://www.dw.com/en/frauke-petry-founded-blue-party-ahead-of-national-elections-reports/a-40917668|access-date=24 November 2020|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112045604/https://www.dw.com/en/frauke-petry-founded-blue-party-ahead-of-national-elections-reports/a-40917668|url-status=live}}

In April 2019, Jörg Meuthen appeared alongside Northern League leader Matteo Salvini, National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, and politicians from the Danish People's Party and FPÖ to announce the formation of a new European political alliance.{{cite news|work=Deutsche Welle|date=8 April 2019|url=https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-afd-joins-italys-league-in-new-populist-coalition/a-48249992|title=Germany's AfD joins Italy's League in new populist coalition|access-date=24 November 2020|archive-date=30 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230183003/https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-afd-joins-italys-league-in-new-populist-coalition/a-48249992|url-status=live}} AfD later joined this group in the European Parliament, which was ultimately named the Identity and Democracy group.{{cite news|work=Deutsche Welle|title=Far-right parties form new group in European Parliament|date=14 June 2019|url=https://www.dw.com/en/far-right-parties-form-new-group-in-european-parliament/a-49189262|access-date=24 November 2020|archive-date=14 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614012959/https://www.dw.com/en/far-right-parties-form-new-group-in-european-parliament/a-49189262|url-status=live}} In July 2023, the AfD joined the Identity and Democracy Party, the European political party affiliated with this group.{{cite web | url=https://www.anews.com.tr/world/2023/07/28/germanys-far-right-afd-to-join-european-far-right-coalition-party | title=Germanys far-right AfD to join European far-right coalition party | access-date=1 April 2024 | archive-date=2 September 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902151037/https://www.anews.com.tr/world/2023/07/28/germanys-far-right-afd-to-join-european-far-right-coalition-party | url-status=live }}

The AfD initially maintained close cooperation with the French National Rally and Marine Le Pen. In February 2024, it was reported that the relations between the two parties had become strained after AfD spokesmen attended the 2023 Potsdam far-right meeting. In response, the AfD's leadership held a meeting with Le Pen and denied endorsing the words of some of the people at the meeting.{{cite web |url=https://www.courthousenews.com/germanys-afd-sets-up-talks-with-le-pen-in-remigration-row/ |title=Germany's AfD sets up talks with Le Pen in 'remigration' row |work=Courthouse News Service |access-date=21 May 2024 |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902151029/https://www.courthousenews.com/germanys-afd-sets-up-talks-with-le-pen-in-remigration-row/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/le-pen-national-rally-to-get-explanations-from-afd-on-secret-remigration-meeting/#:~:text=Relations%20between%20Germany's%20Alternative%20for,clandestine%20meeting%20of%20right%2Dwing |title=Far-right AfD moves to make amends with Le Pen |date=23 February 2024 |access-date=21 May 2024 |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902151802/https://www.politico.eu/article/le-pen-national-rally-to-get-explanations-from-afd-on-secret-remigration-meeting/#:~:text=Relations%20between%20Germany's%20Alternative%20for,clandestine%20meeting%20of%20right%2Dwing |url-status=live }}

In May 2024, it was reported that the National Rally and other members of the Identity and Democracy group had announced they would no longer sit with the AfD following the 2024 European Parliament election after AfD's lead candidate for the election Maximilian Krah made remarks in an interview on Nazi Germany and allegedly suggested that not all members of the Waffen-SS should be seen as criminals.{{cite web|title=France's National Rally won't sit with Alternative for Germany in EU Parliament|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-national-rally-marine-le-pen-says-it-will-cut-ties-with-german-afd-after-recent-statements/|website=Politico|date=21 May 2024|access-date=22 May 2024|archive-date=22 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522161127/https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-national-rally-marine-le-pen-says-it-will-cut-ties-with-german-afd-after-recent-statements/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=French Far Right Splits With Germany's AfD In EU Parliament|url=https://www.barrons.com/news/french-far-right-splits-with-germany-s-afd-in-eu-parliament-8d8d3703|website=Politico|date=21 May 2024|access-date=22 May 2024|archive-date=10 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610054106/https://www.barrons.com/news/french-far-right-splits-with-germany-s-afd-in-eu-parliament-8d8d3703|url-status=live}} Italy's Lega and the Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) backed the National Rally's decision and announced they would also formally cease cooperation with the AfD while the Danish People's Party issued an ultimatum that they would only continue working with AfD on the condition of Krah's removal. The Flemish Vlaams Belang criticized Krah's words as "increasingly problematic" but declined to immediately expel the AfD faction, stating they preferred to review the situation after the election. The Estonian EKRE and the FPÖ supported expelling Krah but opposed the expulsion of AfD. After an internal meeting and vote, the Identity and Democracy board subsequently agreed to expel AfD, with group leader Marco Zanni citing Krah's interview, as well as allegations of Chinese and Russian espionage influence on AfD. The party consequently moved to non-inscrits.{{cite web | url=https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/danmark/vistisen-stiller-ultimatum-til-afd-og-vil-have-medlem-smidt-ud | title=Vistisen med ultimatum til AfD: Smid spidskandidat ud eller forlad gruppen | access-date=23 May 2024 | archive-date=22 May 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522134308/https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/danmark/vistisen-stiller-ultimatum-til-afd-og-vil-have-medlem-smidt-ud | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://www.repubblica.it/politica/2024/05/22/news/afd_ss_salvini_le_pen_sovranisti-423061840/ | title='Mai più con Afd non condanna le SS'. Salvini e le Pen spaccano i sovranisti | date=21 May 2024 | access-date=23 May 2024 | archive-date=10 June 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610054103/https://www.repubblica.it/politica/2024/05/22/news/afd_ss_salvini_le_pen_sovranisti-423061840/ | url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/czech-far-right-splits-with-afd-follows-le-pen/|title=Czech far-right splits with AfD, follows Le Pen – Euractiv|date=22 May 2024|access-date=23 May 2024|archive-date=10 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610054602/https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/czech-far-right-splits-with-afd-follows-le-pen/|url-status=live}} Following the decision, AfD said they would negotiate to rejoin the group and announced Krah would not sit with the AfD faction in the European Parliament after the election.

AfD also has ties to parties like Hungary's Our Homeland Movement,{{cite tweet|user=ToroczkaiLaszlo|number=1552710587666370561|title=Megmutattam a 19. Magyar Sziget fesztivál külföldi vendégeinek, szövetségeseinknek, a magyar-szerb határon a kerítést és a határvédelmet}} the Confederation of the Polish Crown (KKP),{{cite web|url=https://fakty.tvn24.pl/fakty-o-swiecie/konfederacja-puszcza-oko-do-afd-pomimo-faktu-ze-niemiecka-partia-jest-antypolska-st7192168|work=TVN24|title=Konfederacja puszcza oko do AfD. Pomimo faktu, że niemiecka partia jest antypolska|date=26 June 2023|access-date=29 May 2024|archive-date=29 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529203832/https://fakty.tvn24.pl/fakty-o-swiecie/konfederacja-puszcza-oko-do-afd-pomimo-faktu-ze-niemiecka-partia-jest-antypolska-st7192168|url-status=live}} the Dutch Forum for Democracy (FvD),{{cite tweet|user=ThierryBaudet|number=1793225025241170193|title=FVD will therefore continue to support @krahmax and his @AfD party. We do not play this game of 'denunciation', we are loyal to our friends.}} the French Reconquête,{{cite news|work=Le Parisien|title=Remigration et procréation : Reconquête durcit (encore) son discours|date=7 February 2024|url=https://www.leparisien.fr/politique/remigration-et-procreation-reconquete-durcit-encore-son-discours-07-02-2024-ZU2YKCIENZATZOGUUV53OP7XA4.php|access-date=27 June 2024|archive-date=27 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240627104508/https://www.leparisien.fr/politique/remigration-et-procreation-reconquete-durcit-encore-son-discours-07-02-2024-ZU2YKCIENZATZOGUUV53OP7XA4.php|url-status=live}} Slovakia's Republic party,{{cite tweet|user=MilanUhrik|number=1618558584824147970|title=Tanky proti Rusku na Ukrajine ⁉️}} Bulgaria's Revival,{{cite web |url=https://www.mediapool.bg/vazrazhdane-vodi-deputati-ot-alternativa-za-germaniya-na-shipka-news356769.html |title='Възраждане' води депутати от 'Алтернатива за Германия' на Шипка |language=bg |date=3 March 2024 |access-date=1 April 2024 |archive-date=1 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240401114817/https://www.mediapool.bg/vazrazhdane-vodi-deputati-ot-alternativa-za-germaniya-na-shipka-news356769.html |url-status=live}} Alternative for Sweden,{{cite web |url=https://alternativforsverige.se/ungersk-partiledare-talar-pa-valupptakten/ |title=Ungersk partiledare talar på valupptakten |work=alternativforsverige.se |access-date=1 September 2022 |language=sv |archive-date=19 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819105853/https://alternativforsverige.se/ungersk-partiledare-talar-pa-valupptakten/ |url-status=live}} Serbia's Dveri{{cite web |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2019/10/24/we-are-their-voice-german-far-right-builds-balkan-alliances/ |title='We Are Their Voice': German Far-Right Builds Balkan Alliances |date=24 October 2019 |access-date=4 February 2023 |archive-date=4 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204230303/https://balkaninsight.com/2019/10/24/we-are-their-voice-german-far-right-builds-balkan-alliances/ |url-status=live}} and the Serbian Party Oathkeepers.{{cite news |work=Beta |title=Đurđević Stamenkovski dobila podršku čelnika AFD u Bundestagu |date=17 November 2023 |url=https://beta.rs/content/194463-durdevic-stamenkovski-dobila-podrsku-celnika-afd-u-bundestagu |access-date=11 February 2024 |archive-date=18 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118084755/https://beta.rs/content/194463-durdevic-stamenkovski-dobila-podrsku-celnika-afd-u-bundestagu |url-status=live}} Following the 2024 European Parliament election, the AfD began negotiations with several of these parties to form a new European Parliament group.{{cite news |date=24 June 2024 |title=Don't call us hooligans: Germany's AfD set to lead new European Parliament 'Sovereigntist' group |url=https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/06/dont-call-us-hooligans-germanys-afd-set-to-lead-new-european-parliament-sovereigntist-group/ |work=Brussels Signal |access-date=27 June 2024 |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902151643/https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/06/dont-call-us-hooligans-germanys-afd-set-to-lead-new-european-parliament-sovereigntist-group/ |url-status=live}} Although the AfD originally negotiated with S.O.S. Romania,{{cite news |work=Hungary Today |title=Another Romanian Party with Hungarophobic Rhetoric Joins the European Parliament |date=25 June 2024 |url=https://hungarytoday.hu/another-romanian-party-with-hungarophobic-rhetoric-joins-the-european-parliament/ |quote=Diana Şoşoacă said in a TV interview on Sunday evening that she and Luis Lazarus, the party's second MEP, had been in talks with the AfD for a year. |access-date=27 June 2024 |archive-date=27 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240627102518/https://hungarytoday.hu/another-romanian-party-with-hungarophobic-rhetoric-joins-the-european-parliament/ |url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=23 June 2024|title=Diana Șoșoacă se aliază cu Alternativa pentru Germania într-un nou grup politic european|url=https://www.stiripesurse.ro/diana-osoaca-se-aliaza-cu-alternativa-pentru-germania-intr-un-nou-grup-politic-european_3358375.html|access-date=23 June 2024|archive-date=2 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902151646/https://www.stiripesurse.ro/diana-osoaca-se-aliaza-cu-alternativa-pentru-germania-intr-un-nou-grup-politic-european_3358375.html|url-status=live}} it later rejected S.O.S.'s attempt to join the group.{{cite news|work=Spotmedia.ro|title=The delimitation of Sosoacă: Not even the German extremists from AfD want to associate with her and Lazarus|date=28 June 2024|quote=AfD MEP Cristine Andreson confirmed to G4Media that Șoșoacă and Lazarus will not be accepted into the Sovereigntists group. 'I had a discussion with the SOS representatives and we unanimously decided not to accept them into the group. I would prefer not to discuss the reasons for the rejection,' Anderson stated.|url=https://spotmedia.ro/en/news/politics/sosoacas-delimitation-not-even-the-german-extremists-from-afd-want-to-associate-with-her-and-lazarus|access-date=3 July 2024|archive-date=2 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902151645/https://spotmedia.ro/en/news/politics/sosoacas-delimitation-not-even-the-german-extremists-from-afd-want-to-associate-with-her-and-lazarus|url-status=live}} The KKP was also eventually rejected from the group.{{cite news|work=Euractiv|url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/polish-far-right-confederation-meps-split-join-separate-far-right-eu-groups/|title=Polish far-right Confederation MEPs split, join separate far-right EU groups|date=11 July 2024|quote=According to Die Welt, this resulted from the AfD's decision. 'The AfD's condition was that they do not want to cooperate with Poland's Grzegorz Braun' for the reasons of his statements about the Holocaust, among other things, Die Welt reported.|access-date=25 July 2024|archive-date=16 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716101018/https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/polish-far-right-confederation-meps-split-join-separate-far-right-eu-groups/|url-status=live}} Despite the Czech SPD's prior declaration that it would not sit with the AfD, and past opposition by Poland's New Hope to cooperation with the AfD, both parties ultimately joined the AfD-led Europe of Sovereign Nations group.{{cite news|work=Wiadomosci|title=Stanisław Tyszka uważał AfD za 'niebezpiecznie antypolskie'. Teraz wejdzie z nimi w sojusz|date=11 July 2024|url=https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/od-niecheci-do-przyjazni-stanislaw-tyszka-laczy-sily-z-niemieckim-afd/vkzsqfs|access-date=25 July 2024|archive-date=25 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240725102527/https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/od-niecheci-do-przyjazni-stanislaw-tyszka-laczy-sily-z-niemieckim-afd/vkzsqfs|url-status=live}}{{cite news|work=Brussels Signal|title=Polish Konfederacja split between Patriots and Sovereigntists in European Parliament|date=10 July 2024|url=https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/07/polish-konfederacja-split-between-patriots-and-sovereigntists-in-european-parliament/|access-date=10 July 2024|archive-date=2 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902151648/https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/07/polish-konfederacja-split-between-patriots-and-sovereigntists-in-european-parliament/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|work=Hospodarske Noviny|title='Že jsou označováni za nácky? Mně jsou blízcí.' SPD v europarlamentu míří do frakce vedené AfD|date=1 July 2024|url=https://archiv.hn.cz/c1-67338770-bdquo-ze-jsou-oznacovani-za-nacky-mne-jsou-blizci-ldquo-spd-v-europarlamentu-miri-do-frakce-vedene-afd|access-date=25 July 2024|archive-date=10 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710174117/https://archiv.hn.cz/c1-67338770-bdquo-ze-jsou-oznacovani-za-nacky-mne-jsou-blizci-ldquo-spd-v-europarlamentu-miri-do-frakce-vedene-afd|url-status=live}} In August 2024, AfD also formed the Europe of Sovereign Nations party.{{Cite web |title=Applications not approved or pending: Applications for registration |url=https://www.appf.europa.eu/appf/en/applications/applications-not-approved |access-date=2 September 2024 |website=Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations |language=en}}

In the United States, AfD has connections with Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk{{cite news|work=The Guardian|title=Elon Musk makes surprise appearance at AfD event in eastern Germany|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/25/elon-musk-makes-surprise-appearance-at-afd-event-in-eastern-germany|date=25 January 2025}} and groups associated with the Republican Party, particularly the Young Republicans.{{cite web|work=Presseportal|title=Harald Weyel: Conference in Florida – together for liberal politics|quote=Prof. Dr. Harald Weyel, deputy treasurer of the AfD, took part in a panel discussion of the youth organization of the US Republican Party in Tampa on April 13.|url=https://www.presseportal.de/pm/110332/5760279|date=18 April 2024|access-date=2 September 2024|archive-date=4 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804133508/https://www.presseportal.de/pm/110332/5760279|url-status=live}}{{cite news|work=New York Times|title=A New York Gala Draws Incoming G.O.P. Lawmakers, and Extremists|date=14 December 2022|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/14/us/politics/extremism-republicans.html|access-date=2 September 2024|archive-date=19 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219171412/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/14/us/politics/extremism-republicans.html|url-status=live}} In response to the German domestic intelligence agency 2025 classification of the party as a "confirmed right-wing extremist endeavor" permitting monitoring of it, US Vice President JD Vance wrote, "The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt – not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment.” US secretary of state Marco Rubio also wrote "Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy – it’s tyranny in disguise."{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/03/us-hits-out-germany-tyranny-over-afd-extremist-designation/ |title=US hits out at Germany's 'tyranny' after AfD designated extreme group |last=Bowman |first=Verity |website=The Telegraph |location=London |url-access=subscription |date=3 May 2025 |access-date=3 May 2025}}

AfD has contacts with the People's Party of Canada through the AfD MEP Christine Anderson.{{cite tweet|user=MaximeBernier|number=1830616548278694139|title= AfD is the party of my friend @AndersonAfDMdEP, the European MP who did more to oppose Trudeau's tyrannical covid policies all by herself than the fake Conservatives here in Canada.}} The former President of Switzerland, Ueli Maurer of the Swiss People's Party, has endorsed the 2025 AfD election campaign and addressed AfD events.{{cite news|work=Aargauer Zeitung|title=SVP und AfD: Ueli Maurer hilft Alice Weidel|url=https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/schweiz/politik-ueli-maurer-alice-weidel-und-zoff-bei-der-jungpartei-das-problem-der-svp-mit-ihren-rechten-freunden-im-ausland-ld.2730482|date=7 February 2025}}

In February 2025, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Weidel announced the start of cooperation between AfD and Fidesz.

AfD have some links with the UK Homeland Party.{{cite web |date=15 March 2025 |title=AfD politician hosts UK ethnonationalist party at Bundestag |url=https://unherd.com/newsroom/afd-politician-hosts-uk-ethnonationalist-party-at-bundestag}}

File:BT2013 - AfD8.JPG

At the outset, AfD presented itself as conservative and middle-class, catering to a well-educated demographic; around two-thirds of supporters listed on its website in the early days held doctorates, leading to AfD being nicknamed the "professors' party" in its early days.{{cite news|last=Wittrock|first=Philipp|title=The Know-It-All Party: Anti-Euro 'Alternative for Germany' Launches|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/alternative-for-germany-party-to-challenge-european-common-currency-a-894081.html|access-date=13 May 2013|work=Der Spiegel|date=12 April 2013|archive-date=17 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517072420/https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/alternative-for-germany-party-to-challenge-european-common-currency-a-894081.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|first1=Nicholas|last1=Kulish|first2=Melissa|last2=Eddy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/world/europe/elites-flock-to-anti-euro-party-alternative-for-germany.html|title=German elites drawn to anti-Euro party, spelling trouble for Merkel|work=The New York Times|date=15 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517041926/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/world/europe/elites-flock-to-anti-euro-party-alternative-for-germany.html|archive-date=17 May 2023}}{{cite news|last=Connolly|first=Kate|title=Leading German economist calls for dissolution of eurozone to save EU|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/14/german-economist-eurozone-eu|access-date=22 May 2013|work=The Guardian|date=14 April 2013|archive-date=17 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517041955/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/14/german-economist-eurozone-eu|url-status=live}} The party was described as professors and academics who dislike the compromises inflicted on their purist theories by German party politics.{{cite news|last=Scally|first=Derek|title=Upstart political party challenges Germany's consensus on the euro|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/europe/upstart-political-party-challenges-germany-s-consensus-on-the-euro-1.1358908|access-date=16 May 2013|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=13 April 2013|archive-date=17 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517072404/https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/europe/upstart-political-party-challenges-germany-s-consensus-on-the-euro-1.1358908|url-status=live}} 86% of the party's initial supporters were male.

File:Identitäre Bewegung Sticker auf AfD-Schild.jpg at AfD Bavaria Banner]]

Outside the Berlin hotel where the party held its inaugural meeting, it has been alleged that copies of {{lang|de|Junge Freiheit}}, a weekly that is also popular with the far right, were being handed out.{{cite news|last=Barkin|first=Noah|title=Analysis: Don't underestimate Germany's new anti-euro party|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-antieuro-party-idUSBRE93D08220130414|access-date=21 May 2013|work=Reuters|date=14 April 2013|archive-date=10 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310205035/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-antieuro-party-idUSBRE93D08220130414|url-status=live}} The {{lang|de|Rheinische Post}} pointed out that some AfD members and supporters write for the conservative paper.{{cite news|last=Mayntz|first=Gregor|title=AfD hat schon fast 10.000 Mitglieder|url=http://www.rp-online.de/politik/deutschland/afd-hat-schon-fast-10000-mitglieder-1.3354016|access-date=22 May 2013|work=Rheinische Post|date=24 April 2013|language=de|archive-date=15 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015195249/http://www.rp-online.de/politik/deutschland/afd-hat-schon-fast-10000-mitglieder-1.3354016|url-status=live}} There was also a protest outside the venue of the party's inaugural meeting by Andreas Storr, a National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) representative in the Landtag of Saxony, as the NPD sees AfD as a rival for Eurosceptic votes.{{cite web |last=Schneider |first=Theo |title=Neo-Nazis rally against Alternative for Germany party congress |url=http://www.demotix.com/news/1957347/neo-nazis-rally-against-alternative-germany-party-congress#media-1957337 |publisher=demotix.com |access-date=22 May 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629000205/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.demotix.com%2Fnews%2F1957347%2Fneo-nazis-rally-against-alternative-germany-party-congress%23media-1957337 |archive-date=29 June 2013 |url-status=dead}}

In 2013, AfD party organizers sent out the message that they are not trying to attract right-wing radicals and toned down rhetoric on their Facebook page following media allegations that it too closely evoked the language of the far right.{{cite news |last=Alling |first=Daniel |title=Nytt eurokritiskt parti i Tyskland |url=http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=5474915 |access-date=19 May 2013 |newspaper=Sveriges Radio |date=13 March 2013 |language=sv |archive-date=27 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527215559/https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=5474915 |url-status=live }} At that time, AfD checked applicants for membership to exclude far-right and former NPD members who support the anti-euro policy.{{cite news|last=Alexander|first=Harriet|title=Bernd Lucke interview: 'Why Germany has had enough of the euro'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk//news/worldnews/europe/germany/9975766/Bernd-Lucke-interview-Why-Germany-has-had-enough-of-the-euro.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk//news/worldnews/europe/germany/9975766/Bernd-Lucke-interview-Why-Germany-has-had-enough-of-the-euro.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=13 May 2013|work=The Telegraph|date=7 April 2013|author2=Jeevan Vasagar}}{{cbignore}} The former party chairman Bernd Lucke stated that "[t]he applause is coming from the wrong side", regarding praise his party gained from the NPD.

Members of Alliance 90/Green Party have accused AfD of pandering to xenophobic and nationalistic sentiments.{{cite news|last=Heine|first=Friederike|title=Hard Knocks for Anti-Euro Party|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/anti-euro-party-alternative-for-germany-faces-violent-threats-from-left-wing-activists-a-916531.html|access-date=15 August 2013|work=Der Spiegel|date=14 August 2013|archive-date=2 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602181325/https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/anti-euro-party-alternative-for-germany-faces-violent-threats-from-left-wing-activists-a-916531.html|url-status=live}} There have been altercations between AfD members and Green Youth members. Following the 2013 federal election, the anti-Islam German Freedom Party unilaterally pledged to support AfD in the 2014 elections and concentrate its efforts on local elections only.{{cite news|last=Hebel|first=Christina|title='Die Freiheit': Anti-Islam-Partei will sich der AfD anschließen|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/die-freiheit-stellt-wahlkaempfe-zugunsten-der-afd-ein-a-925504.html|access-date=15 November 2013|work=Der Spiegel|date=1 October 2013|language=de|archive-date=18 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131118160404/http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/die-freiheit-stellt-wahlkaempfe-zugunsten-der-afd-ein-a-925504.html|url-status=live}} Bernd Lucke responded by saying that the German Freedom Party's support was unwanted and sent a letter to AfD party associations recommending a hiring freeze.{{cite news|last=Leber|first=Fabian|title=Alternative für Deutschland und 'Die Freiheit' Islamkritiker empfehlen jetzt die AfD|url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/alternative-fuer-deutschland-und-die-freiheit-islamkritiker-empfehlen-jetzt-die-afd/8874608.html|access-date=15 November 2013|work=Der Tagesspiegel|date=1 October 2013|language=de|archive-date=9 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109112539/http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/alternative-fuer-deutschland-und-die-freiheit-islamkritiker-empfehlen-jetzt-die-afd/8874608.html|url-status=live}}

Stern reported that among 396 AfD candidates for the 2017 Bundestag, 47 candidates did not distance themselves from right-wing extremism. Although a large proportion of the candidates are not openly racist, some relativize Germany's role in World War II or call for the recognition of a "Cult of Guilt". 30 candidates claimed to tolerate right-wing friends in their profile or were themselves members of groups associated with such people; others said that they mourned the German Reich or used their symbols.{{cite news|last1=Stern|title=SPD fällt in Umfrage auf 20 Prozent|url=http://www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/wahl-2017--spd-faellt-in-umfrage-auf-20-prozent-7428928.html|access-date=15 September 2017|agency=Stern|date=14 September 2017|archive-date=14 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914202752/http://www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/wahl-2017--spd-faellt-in-umfrage-auf-20-prozent-7428928.html|url-status=live}}

In 2018 Tino Chrupalla, the current co-leader of AfD, gave an interview to holocaust denier, antisemite and right-wing extremist Nikolai Nerling, which was uploaded to YouTube. It was staged as having occurred by chance, but an earlier shot in the video reveals Chrupalla waiting in the background. As such, the interview was cited in the 2019 Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution report on AfD as evidence of the party's "Connections to the framework of a so-called new right or right-wing populist 'resistance milieu'".{{Cite web |date=28 January 2019 |title=Prüffall: Wir veröffentlichen das Verfassungsschutz-Gutachten zur AfD |url=https://netzpolitik.org/2019/wir-veroeffentlichen-das-verfassungsschutz-gutachten-zur-afd/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |website=netzpolitik.org |archive-date=2 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902150934/https://netzpolitik.org/2019/wir-veroeffentlichen-das-verfassungsschutz-gutachten-zur-afd/#2019-01-15_BfV-AfD-Gutachten_Quelle-213 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=22 October 2021 |title=Tino Chrupalla: Schlesischer Malermeister, AfD-Bundessprecher, Pfui-Rufe ist er gewohnt |url=https://www.24hamburg.de/politik/tino-chrupalla-afd-bundessprecher-autounfall-herkunft-facebook-zitate-maler-90020200.html |access-date=14 July 2024 |website=Hamburg 24 |archive-date=14 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240714163949/https://www.24hamburg.de/politik/tino-chrupalla-afd-bundessprecher-autounfall-herkunft-facebook-zitate-maler-90020200.html |url-status=live }}

On 24 June 2024 it was announced that two parliamentary groups consisting of members of the AfD and Die Heimat formerly the NPD, had been formed in the Brandenburg town of Lauchhammer and the district of Oberspreewald-Lausitz. In Lauchhammer, the joint parliamentary group will be represented in the town council under the name "AfDplus", while the "Heimat & Zukunft" parliamentary group has been formed in the district council of Oberspreewald-Lausitz. Thomas Gürtler from Die Heimat will play a leading role in both bodies. This development is seen as the first official coalition between AfD and the far-right party Die Heimat. The formation of the parliamentary groups was supported by statements made by AfD chairman Tino Chrupalla, who emphasised that there would be no "firewalls" to other parties at local level.{{Cite news |last=Müller |first=Ann-Katrin |date=24 June 2024 |title=AfD gründet erste Fraktionen gemeinsam mit Neonazipartei |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/afd-gruendet-in-brandenburg-erste-fraktion-mit-die-heimat-ex-npd-a-f48d35cc-4113-4709-bc8c-081aae4de979 |access-date=26 June 2024 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349 |archive-date=29 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240829234728/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/afd-gruendet-in-brandenburg-erste-fraktion-mit-die-heimat-ex-npd-a-f48d35cc-4113-4709-bc8c-081aae4de979 |url-status=live }}

In 2016 AfD MEP Marcus Pretzell was expelled from the party after he said that German borders should be defended from incursion by refugees "with armed force as a measure of last resort". Later that same year, former AfD party chair and MEP Frauke Petry told a reporter from the regional newspaper {{lang|de|Mannheimer Morgen}} that the German Border police must do their jobs by "hindering illegal entry of refugees" and that they may "use firearms if necessary" to "prevent illegal border crossings".{{cite news|last1=Beale|first1=Charlotte|title=Refugees should be shot 'if necessary', says party leader in Germany|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/german-police-should-shoot-refugees-says-german-party-leader-a6844611.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131130826/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/german-police-should-shoot-refugees-says-german-party-leader-a6844611.html |archive-date=31 January 2016 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |work=The Independent|date=31 January 2016}}{{cite news|language=de|last1=Mack|first1=Steffen|last2=Serif|first2=Walter|title=Sie können es nicht lassen!|url=http://www.morgenweb.de/nachrichten/politik/sie-konnen-es-nicht-lassen-1.2620328|access-date=30 January 2016|work=Mannheimer Morgen|date=30 January 2016|archive-date=31 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131084156/http://www.morgenweb.de/nachrichten/politik/sie-konnen-es-nicht-lassen-1.2620328|url-status=live}} Petry later stated that no policeman "wants to fire on a refugee and I don't want that either" but that border police must follow the law to maintain the integrity of European borders. Afterwards, Petry made several attempts to justify these statements.

File:2017-04-23 AfD Bundesparteitag in Köln -68.jpg and Alexander Gauland in April 2017]]

In response to the Pegida movement and demonstrations, members of AfD have expressed different opinions of it, with Lucke describing the movement as "a sign that these people do not feel their concerns are understood by politicians".{{cite news|last1= Huggler|first1= Justin|title= German Eurosceptics embrace anti-Islam protests|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11285422/German-Eurosceptics-embrace-anti-Islam-protests.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11285422/German-Eurosceptics-embrace-anti-Islam-protests.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date= 16 December 2014|work= The Daily Telegraph|date= 10 December 2014}}{{cbignore}} In response to the CDU Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière alleging an "overlap" between Pegida rallies and AfD, Alexander Gauland stated that AfD are "natural allies of this movement".{{cite news|last1= Withnall|first1= Adam|title= Germany sees 'visible rise' in support for far-right extremism in response to perceived 'Islamisation' of the West|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-sees-visible-rise-in-support-for-farright-extremism-in-response-to-perceived-islamisation-of-the-west-9926264.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216185711/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-sees-visible-rise-in-support-for-farright-extremism-in-response-to-perceived-islamisation-of-the-west-9926264.html |archive-date=16 December 2014 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|access-date= 17 December 2014|work= The Independent|date= 15 December 2014}} Hans-Olaf Henkel asked members of the party not to join the demonstrations, telling {{lang|de|Der Tagesspiegel}} that he believed it could not be ruled out that they had "xenophobic or even racist connotations". A straw poll by The Economist found that nine out of ten Pegida protesters would back the AfD.{{cite news|title= Gone boy on the right: How an anti-foreigner, anti-establishment group is changing German politics|url= https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21640386-how-anti-foreigner-anti-establishment-group-changing-german-politics-gone-boy-right|access-date= 2 November 2016|newspaper= The Economist|archive-date= 21 January 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240121030431/https://www.economist.com/europe/2015/01/22/gone-boy-on-the-right|url-status= live}}

File:Björn Höcke spricht in Mödlareuth 20191003 010.jpg at a rally for the 2019 state election]]

In January 2017 Björn Höcke, one of the founders of AfD,{{cite web|url=http://www.zeit.de/amp/politik/deutschland/2016-02/bjoern-hoecke-afd-rechtspopulismus-portraet|title=Björn Höcke: Mein Mitschüler, der rechte Agitator|last=Polke-Majewski|first=Karsten|date=18 February 2016|work=Die Zeit|access-date=19 April 2017|archive-date=31 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531205235/https://www.zeit.de/amp/politik/deutschland/2016-02/bjoern-hoecke-afd-rechtspopulismus-portraet|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tlz.de/web/zgt/suche/detail/-/specific/Landtagswahl-2014-Welche-Koalitionen-sind-in-Thueringen-moeglich-179394471|title=Landtagswahl 2014: Welche Koalitionen sind in Thüringen möglich?|date=16 July 2014|work=Thüringische Landeszeitung|access-date=19 April 2017|archive-date=3 September 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140903205616/http://www.tlz.de/web/zgt/suche/detail/-/specific/Landtagswahl-2014-Welche-Koalitionen-sind-in-Thueringen-moeglich-179394471|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://afd-thueringen.de/vorstand/|title=AfD Vorstand Thüringen|access-date=19 April 2017|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100830/http://afd-thueringen.de/vorstand/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/thueringen-immunitaet-von-afd-fraktionschef-hoecke-aufgehoben-a-1042010.html|title=Thüringen: Ausschuss hebt Immunität von AfD-Fraktionschef Höcke auf|date=3 July 2015|work=Der Spiegel|access-date=19 April 2017|archive-date=19 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419175521/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/thueringen-immunitaet-von-afd-fraktionschef-hoecke-aufgehoben-a-1042010.html|url-status=live}} gave a speech in Dresden in which, referring to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, he stated that "we Germans are the only people in the world who have planted a memorial of shame in the heart of their capital",{{cite news|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/afd-geht-nach-umstrittener-rede-auf-distanz-zu-hoecke-14686499.html|title=AfD-Mann Höcke löst mit Kritik an Holocaust-Gedenken Empörung aus|date=18 January 2017|language=de|work=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|access-date=2 June 2020|archive-date=11 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111170720/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/afd-geht-nach-umstrittener-rede-auf-distanz-zu-hoecke-14686499.html|url-status=live}} and suggested that Germans "need to make a 180 degree change in their politics of commemoration".{{cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article161286915/Was-Hoecke-mit-der-Denkmal-der-Schande-Rede-bezweckt.html|title=Was Höcke mit der 'Denkmal der Schande'-Rede bezweckt|date=19 January 2017|language=de|author=Matthias Kamann|work=Die Welt|access-date=19 April 2017|archive-date=23 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023151201/https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article161286915/Was-Hoecke-mit-der-Denkmal-der-Schande-Rede-bezweckt.html|url-status=live}} The speech was widely criticized as antisemitic or neo-Nazi, among others by Jewish leaders in Germany.{{cite web|url=https://jungefreiheit.de/politik/deutschland/2017/petry-hoecke-ist-eine-belastung-fuer-die-partei/|title=AfD-Chefin Petry: 'Höcke ist eine Belastung für die Partei'|date=18 January 2017|language=de|work=Junge Freiheit|access-date=19 April 2017|archive-date=4 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604090955/https://jungefreiheit.de/politik/deutschland/2017/petry-hoecke-ist-eine-belastung-fuer-die-partei/|url-status=live}} Within AfD, he was described by his party chairwoman, Frauke Petry, as a "burden to the party", while other members of the party, such as Alexander Gauland, said that they found no antisemitism in the speech.

In February 2017, AfD leaders asked for Höcke to be expelled from the party due to his speech. The arbitration committee of AfD in Thuringia was set to rule on the leaders' request.{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-right-wing-afd-seeks-to-expel-state-leader-over-holocaust-remarks/a-37525199|title=Germany's right-wing AfD seeks to expel state leader over Holocaust remarks|publisher=Deutsche Welle|access-date=19 April 2017|archive-date=7 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607005404/https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-right-wing-afd-seeks-to-expel-state-leader-over-holocaust-remarks/a-37525199|url-status=live}} In May 2018, an AfD tribunal ruled that Höcke was allowed to stay in the party.{{Cite web |last=Oltermann |first=Philip |date=16 September 2019 |title=AfD politician threatens journalist after Hitler comparison |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/16/afd-politician-threatens-journalist-hitler-comparison-bjorn-hocke |access-date= |website=The Guardian |archive-date=11 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111130426/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/16/afd-politician-threatens-journalist-hitler-comparison-bjorn-hocke |url-status=live }}

The AfD politician Matthias Helferich had described himself in social media messages as the "friendly face of the {{sic|ns}}," referring to National Socialism. Helferich also called himself a "democratic Freisler," referring to a Nazi-era judge.{{Cite news|date=8 May 2024|title=Going to the extreme: Inside Germany's far right|language=en|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68931170|access-date=11 December 2024}}

In January 2024 it was revealed that senior members of the party, including Roland Hartwig, then advisor to party co-leader Alice Weidel, attended a meeting alongside neo-Nazi influencers, where plans for the deportation of millions of "asylum seekers", "non-assimilated people", and those with "non-German backgrounds" were discussed, including those with German citizenship and residency rights.{{Cite news |date=20 January 2024 |title=AfD: Germans float ban on elected far-right party after scandal |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68029232 |access-date=24 May 2024 |work=BBC News}} The event triggered the 2024 German anti-extremism protests.

In May 2024, Höcke was convicted and fined €13,000 by the state court in Halle for deliberately using a banned slogan {{lang|de|"Alles für Deutschland"}}, associated with the Nazi Party's paramilitary wing, in a May 2021 campaign speech.{{Cite news |last=Cole |first=Deborah |date=14 May 2024 |title=German court fines senior AfD politician €13,000 for using banned Nazi phrase |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/14/german-court-fines-afd-bjorn-hocke-using-banned-nazi-phrase |access-date=15 May 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}} In the same month, the party member Maximilian Krah defence of the Waffen-SS caused controversy.{{cite web|url=https://taz.de/Nach-Relativierungen-der-SS/!6012267/ |title=Auftrittsverbot für Krah |trans-title=Stage ban for Krah |first=Gareth |last=Joswig |work=taz |date=22 May 2024 |language=de |access-date=23 May 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/european-parliament-le-pen-party-breaks-with-afd-after-statements-on-ss-soldiers/ |title=European Parliament: Le Pen Party Breaks With AfD After Statements on SS Soldiers |first=Hélène |last=de Lauzun |work=The European Conservative |date=21 May 2024 |access-date=21 May 2024}}

Following the 2025 federal election it was confirmed that Maximillian Krah and Matthias Helferich would be joining the parliament.{{Cite web |date=25 February 2025 |title=AfD's Krah to join German parliament despite controversial past |url=https://www.euronews.com/2025/02/25/afds-krah-to-join-german-parliament-despite-controversial-past |access-date=26 February 2025 |website=euronews |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Kurz |first=Julie |title=AfD-Fraktion nimmt SS-Verharmloser auf |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/bundestagswahl/afd-fraktion-krah-helferich-100.html |access-date=26 February 2025 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de}}

On 2 May 2025 the German intelligence agency, Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), published a report spanning 1,100 pages which sought to assess whether the AfD should be designated as an 'extremist' group. Central to its thesis was the party's anti-Muslim stance, and it favouring national and ethnic Germans over migrants. AfD denounced its designation as politically motivated attempt to discredit and criminalize it. The designation opens the possibility of civil servants belonging to the AfD facing dismissal depending on their role within the entity, according to the country's interior ministry.{{Cite web |date=May 2, 2025 |title=German spy agency brands far-right AfD as 'extremist', opens way for closer surveillance |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-spy-agency-ranks-far-right-afd-extremist-2025-05-02/ |first1=Sarah |last1=Marsh |first2=Friederike |last2=Heine |website=Reuters |access-date=2025-05-13}} In response, the AfD filed a lawsuit.{{Cite web |date=May 5, 2025 |title=AfD files lawsuit against German spy agency's extremist classification |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/afd-files-lawsuit-against-german-spy-agencys-extremist-classification-2025-05-05/ |website=Reuters}}

{{Main|AfD pro-Russia movement}}

The German domestic secret service reported based on its findings that Russia is trying to "destabilize the democratic system of Germany on many levels." According to the head of the service Thomas Haldenwang, Russian narratives are being spread by parts of the AfD and are contributing to expansion of right-wing populism.{{Cite web |title=Verfassungsschutz warnt vor russischer Propaganda und Sabotage |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/verfassungsschutz-sabotage-russland-china-afd-100.html |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de}}{{Cite news |last1=Albrecht |first1=Fabian |last2=Tschirner |first2=Ulrike |last3=dpa |last4=AFP |date=2023-05-22 |title=Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz: AfD fördert laut Haldenwang Rechtsextremismus und russische Propaganda |url=https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2023-05/thomas-haldenwang-afd-russische-propaganda |access-date=2024-03-12 |work=Die Zeit |language=de-DE |issn=0044-2070}}

AfD members and activists were listed as keeping close ties with Russian politicians and receiving financial benefits in an OCCRP investigation of Russia's International Agency for Current Policy.{{Cite web |author1=Martin Laine |author2=Cecilia Anesi |author3=Lorenzo Bagnoli |author4=Tatiana Tkachenko |title=Kremlin-Linked Group Arranged Payments to European Politicians to Support Russia's Annexation of Crimea |url=https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/kremlin-linked-group-arranged-payments-to-european-politicians-to-support-russias-annexation-of-crimea |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204102108/https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/kremlin-linked-group-arranged-payments-to-european-politicians-to-support-russias-annexation-of-crimea |archive-date=4 February 2023 |access-date=February 22, 2025 |website=OCCRP}}

{{See also|Alternative for Germany election results}}

• List of political parties in Germany

{{reflist|group=nb}}

{{reflist}}

• Arzheimer, Kai, and Carl C. Berning. "How the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and their voters veered to the radical right, 2013–2017." Electoral Studies 60 (2019): 102040.
• {{cite journal | last1=Berbuir | first1=Nicole | last2=Lewandowsky | first2=Marcel | last3=Siri | first3=Jasmin | title=The AfD and its Sympathisers: Finally a Right-Wing Populist Movement in Germany? | journal=German Politics | volume=24 | issue=2 | date=3 April 2015 | issn=0964-4008 | doi=10.1080/09644008.2014.982546 | pages=154–178}}
• Diermeier, Matthias. "The AfD's Winning Formula – No Need for Economic Strategy Blurring in Germany." Intereconomics 55.1 (2020): 43–52. [https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10272-020-0868-2.pdf online]
• Franz, Christian, Marcel Fratzscher, and Alexander Kritikos. "At opposite poles: How the success of the Green Party and AfD reflects the geographical and social cleavages in Germany." DIW Weekly Report 9.34 (2019): 289–300. [https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/203434/1/1677073365.pdf online]
• Hansen, Michael A., and Jonathan Olsen. "Flesh of the same flesh: A study of voters for the alternative for Germany (AfD) in the 2017 federal election." German Politics 28.1 (2019): 1–19. [http://www.academia.edu/download/58133921/Hansen_and_Olsen_2019.pdf online]{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Havertz, Ralf. "Right-wing populism and neoliberalism in Germany: The AfD's embrace of ordoliberalism." New Political Economy 24.3 (2019): 385–403.
• {{cite book|title=Extremismusforschung: Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Praxis|publisher=Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG|trans-title=Research of Extremism: A Handbook for Study and Practice|date=2024|isbn=978-3-7489-3467-7|doi=10.5771/9783748934677|author1-link=Eckhard Jesse|author1-last=Jesse|author1-first=Eckhard |author2-first=Tom |author2-last=Mannewitz|editor-first1=Eckhard |editor-first2=Tom |editor-last1=Jesse |editor-last2=Mannewitz |language=de|chapter=Die Alternative für Deutschland|trans-chapter=The Alternative for Germany|pages=601–621}}
• Küppers, Anne. "'Climate-Soviets,' 'Alarmism,' and 'Eco-Dictatorship': The Framing of Climate Change Scepticism by the Populist Radical Right Alternative for Germany." German Politics (2022) [https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2022.2056596 online].
• Pfahl-Traughber, Armin (2019). Die AfD und der Rechtsextremismus: Eine Analyse aus politikwissenschaftlicher Perspektive. Springer VS, {{ISBN|978-3-658-25179-6}}.
• Rosellini, Jay. The German New Right: AfD, PEGIDA and the Re-Imagining of National Identity (Hurst, 2020) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55254 online review]
• [http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/guide-to-german-political-parties-a-886188-9.html Spiegel Online's Guide to German Political Parties: Alternative for Germany]

{{Commons category|Alternative für Deutschland|Alternative for Germany}}

• {{Official website}} {{in lang|de}}
• [https://www.afd.de/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2017/04/2017-04-12_afd-grundsatzprogramm-englisch_web.pdf Manifesto for Germany: The Political Programme for the Alternative for Germany] (2017, English translation)

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