The recent European parliamentary elections have seen the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) experience a shock defeat, with its co-leader accusing members of rival party Alternative for Germany (AfD) as “Nazis. The SPD secured approximately 14% of the vote for the EU legislature after four days of polling ended on Sunday. This put them in third place behind AfD, estimated to have won 16%, and Christian Democrats, projected to have secured around 30.
In a panel discussion on n-tv broadcaster on Sunday evening, SPD’s Lars Klingbeil stated that he expected better results in the federal parliamentary election next year. He believes the result of the European election will serve as a wake-up call for many people to realize “the Nazis have become stronger,” prompting them to fight for democracy.
AfD co-chair Alice Weidel asked Klingbeil to clarify who in particular he had labeled as “Nazis”, to which he responded, “You know that I mean: the AfD and you.” When confronted again by Weidel about his statement, she said, “OK. Interesting.
Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the new left-wing BSW party, intervened by suggesting a more differentiated approach to dealing with the AfD. Although she acknowledged that some in the party fit the “Nazi” label, she cited Bjorn Hocke, the AfD leader in Thuringia, who last year was charged for the public use of a banned slogan first adopted by the Nazi paramilitary wing the Sturmabteilung in the 1930s.
Wagenknecht also pointed out MEP Maximilian Krah as fitting the “Nazi” label after he claimed in an interview that not all members of the Waffen-SS should be considered criminals, resulting in a rift between the AfD and its allies in the European Parliament. Krah resigned from the party leadership team and suspended campaigning to defuse tensions.
Germany’s traditional political forces have long accused AfD of having Nazi leanings. In 2022, the German domestic intelligence agency, BfV, branded the party a suspected extremist organization that needs monitoring. Last month, the administrative court in Muenster ruled there were legal grounds for such a designation but stressed that it did not consider the suspicion proven.
Wagenknecht’s BSW party secured around 6% of the vote in its first European Parliament election. Meanwhile, the SPD’s allies in the “traffic light” coalition, the Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens, faced losses, with the latter falling to 12%, down from 20.5% in the previous ballot in 2019.