AfD is a party of Nazis - Gabriel

Foreign minister’s comments were unusual given Germans’ continued sensitivity to Nazi references

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel yesterday equated the farright Alternative for Germany (AfD) party with the Nazis who ruled the country from 1933 to 1945, an insult rarely heard in national politics.

In an interview with internet provider t-online.de, Gabriel said many German voters were considering voting for the AfD in a September 24 parliamentary election because they felt their concerns about migration, security and jobs were not being addressed.

“If we’re unlucky, then these people will send a signal of dissatisfaction that will have terrible consequences. Then we will have real Nazis in the German Reichstag for the first time since the end of [the Second] World War,” said Gabriel, a Social Democrat.

Rise to power

His comments were unusual given Germans’ continued sensitivity to Nazi references, even 70 years after the war ended. Contacted by Reuters, the AfD had no immediate response.

Founded in 2013 as an anti-European Union party, the AfD shifted its focus after the Eurozone debt crisis eased off and began to campaign against immigration, fuelled by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision in 2015 to open Germany’s borders to more than a million refugees, many fleeing war in the Middle East.

The party has seats in 13 of 16 state legislatures and is poised to move into the national parliament for the first time, according to polls that show its support at around 8 to 11 per cent, well above the required 5 per cent threshold.

Political experts say it will be the first time that a farright party has been represented in the German parliament.

Gabriel spoke highly of cooperation with Merkel in a separate interview with broadcaster ARD.