Germany's AfD to soften stance on migrants — Bild
Founded back in 2013, the right-wing party has steadily gained in popularity amid the continuing migrant crisis in Germany. It finished second in the federal elections in February, winning 152 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag. In April, a survey by the pollster Forsa indicated that it enjoyed the support of 26% of respondents, ahead of all the other parties in Germany.
In an article on Saturday, Bild claimed to have seen a new seven-point policy paper that the AfD's parliamentary group was expected to adopt that same day.
Conspicuously absent from the document are calls for the 'remigration' of German residents with a migrant background, as well as an insistence on the 'German guiding culture,' according to the outlet.
Bild claimed that the terms had specifically been axed from the party program in order to 'reach more moderate voters,' and 'appear capable of governing by the next federal election' in 2029. Aside from these purported changes, the AfD also reportedly intends to adopt a code of conduct for its lawmakers in the Bundestag.
The party's interim goal is to gain ground in next year's regional elections, Bild reported.
The media outlet claimed that the updated program calls for an end to asylum-granting to refugees at the border, tougher naturalization requirements and less social welfare for migrants.
The party also reportedly seeks to slash taxes, lift a self-imposed ban on the use of nuclear power plants, and restore the Nord Stream pipelines. The conduits, which used to carry Russian natural gas, were destroyed by a targeted underwater explosion in 2022. Berlin has since ruled out restoring them to operation.
According to Bild, the right-wingers want Germany's foreign policy to be guided by the motto 'Germany first,' which would presumably entail an end to weapons deliveries to Ukraine and the lifting of sanctions against Russia.
In a post on X on Sunday, the AfD Bundestag group revealed that its members had convened for a 'closed meeting' over the weekend to set 'political goals for the coming period.'
The party was declared a 'confirmed right-wing extremist entity' by Germany's domestic intelligence agency in May, only for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) to suspend the label shortly thereafter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
an hour ago
- Russia Today
Flimsy protection for NATO warplanes exposed by media
The UK's new nuclear-capable F-35 fighter jets are protected by only five-foot-high (1.5m) fencing and warning signs, leaving them vulnerable to potential attacks, The Telegraph reported on Friday. A Royal Air Force (RAF) base suffered a vandalism attack just weeks ago, as the UK prepares for a major NATO rearmament push to counter the supposed 'threat' from Russia. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed such allegations. A number of the RAF's most important airstrips are severely under-defended and vulnerable to potential attacks by 'determined activists and foreign agents,' according to an investigation carried out by the outlet. The security risks are clearly visible on publicly available Google Street View, and such activist groups as the group Palestine Action, as well as 'hostile foreign powers,' have likely already assessed the weaknesses, the newspaper noted, citing analysts. Two weeks ago, members of Palestine Action broke into the RAF Brize Norton base and damaged two British military planes. UK lawmakers have since moved to designate the group a terrorist organization. The British military has ordered a security review across all military sites since the incident. According to The Telegraph, while the RAF has made attempts to strengthen the security of its bases, gaps remain. Some of the bases still have barbed wire 'absent for large distances,' the security cameras did not have full coverage of the perimeters, and patrols are infrequent, the newspaper wrote. The Labour government has been facing budget troubles as it struggles to free up more money for rising military commitments. Just this past Tuesday it partially reversed plans to cut back on social benefits. According to Downing Street, the UK aims to reach 4.1% of GDP on military spending over the next two years. This is in line with a wider NATO military buildup that is being described as a deterrent to an alleged 'long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security.' The figure is nearly twice as high as the roughly 2.3% the UK spent on its military in 2024. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed claims that it has any intention of attacking NATO countries as 'nonsense.' The EU and UK have 'simply robbed' their taxpayers for years by diverting money to militarization rather than addressing 'acute and aggravating socio-economic problems,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week.
Russia Today
5 hours ago
- Russia Today
Kiev is not negotiating in good faith
Ukraine does not take ceasefire negotiations with Russia seriously and only attends the talks in Istanbul to avoid being viewed as an obstacle to peace in the eyes of Western sponsors, Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tikhiy has acknowledged. Russia and Ukraine held two rounds of direct talks in Istanbul in recent months, which so far did not result in any breakthroughs with regard to ending the conflict, but led to several large-scale prisoner exchanges. 'We don't expect a real ceasefire as a result of these meetings,' Tikhiy said in an interview on the YouTube channel of journalist Aleksandr Notevsky on Friday. The Ukrainian diplomat explained that Kiev's presence at the talks serves to protect its image in the eyes of the international community and avoid accusations of being the side obstructing peace negotiations. 'It's to prevent anyone from accusing Ukraine of being the side that doesn't want peace,' Tikhiy said. He acknowledged concerns being raised 'in different circles, even among allied countries' that Kiev is blocking peace efforts, explaining that 'Ukraine is sending a delegation… to show that this is not true.' The Ukrainian official acknowledged the humanitarian aspect of the talks, noting that if 'a thousand people are returned… then it's worth going and listening to any historical nonsense.' Back in May, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Kiev to resume direct negotiations without any preconditions in Istanbul – where Kiev had unilaterally abandoned talks back in 2022, reportedly at the behest of its Western backers. Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky immediately dared the Russian president to personally meet him in Türkiye, but the Kremlin noted such a meeting would be absolutely pointless without thorough preparatory work. Ukrainian officials have since repeatedly disparaged Moscow's delegation as being too low-level, even though the same chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky worked on the original 2022 peace framework. Tikhiy claimed that the makeup of the Ukrainian delegation, which includes Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, somehow proves that Kiev is more serious about the talks than Moscow. Zelensky is seeking a personal meeting with Putin to defend his claims to legitimacy and resist Western attempts to push him out of power, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday. 'He is insanely afraid of being forgotten, of becoming unnecessary for the West. That somehow the West will sideline him. And you can see he doesn't step away from the microphones. I think he already sleeps with a webcam,' she said. Zelensky's presidential term expired last year, and Moscow views him as illegitimate. In June, Putin said he was open to meeting with the actor-turned-politician, but suggested that the Ukrainian leader lacks legitimacy for signing binding agreements. 'I am ready to meet with anyone, including Zelensky,' Putin said. 'That's not the issue – if the Ukrainian state trusts someone to conduct negotiations, by all means, let it be Zelensky. The question is different: Who will sign the documents?'
Russia Today
6 hours ago
- Russia Today
NATO talks becoming toxic
Discussions with the West about NATO membership for Kiev have become increasingly tense and unproductive, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tikhy has said, describing the talks as 'toxic.' Western nations initially backed Kiev's aspirations to join the US-led bloc, but Ukraine's military struggles and shifting American policies have led to a decline in support. The dialogue with NATO partners has now reached a dead end, Tikhy lamented in an interview on the YouTube channel of journalist Aleksandr Notevsky on Friday. 'All the arguments and counterarguments have already been presented, and each new round of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to NATO goes in circles,' he stated. The discussions 'have become, to put it simply, very toxic,' he added. Ukraine formally applied for fast-track NATO membership in September 2022, months after the escalation of the conflict with Russia. Although the bloc has consistently stated that 'Ukraine's future is in NATO,' it has never set a specific time frame for accession. At the 2023 NATO summit, the requirement for Ukraine to complete the Membership Action Plan was removed, thus simplifying the path to membership. However, the final communique only stated that an invitation would be extended 'when allies agree and conditions are met,' without providing concrete timelines or criteria. Ukraine's future membership was discussed at last year's NATO summit and the joint communique explicitly reaffirmed that Kiev's accession was inevitable. Since then, however, a number of leaders of NATO countries have soured on the idea, weighing the risks of further escalation with Russia and the bloc's long-term security priorities. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has been more emphatic, stating that Kiev 'can forget about' joining the NATO, noting that its attempts to do so were 'probably the reason the whole thing started,' referring to the Ukraine conflict. At the recent NATO summit in June, Ukraine was barely mentioned in the final communique, while its leader, Vladimir Zelensky, failed to secure support for Kiev's future membership. Russia has repeatedly characterized Ukraine's attempt to join NATO as a red line and one of the root causes of the conflict. Moscow has demanded that Kiev legally commit to never joining any military alliance.
