Alice Weidel, leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, used the CPAC Hungary podium in Budapest to draw attention to what she described as the German government’s growing authoritarian behavior toward millions of Germans. She points to calls to ban her party, the second-largest party in the country and the leading opposition party, as well as attacks on free speech and espionage by the country’s powerful domestic intelligence agency.
Alice Weidel, known for her criticism of the current government, accused the German authorities of undermining democratic institutions. She stated that the government is leading the country toward authoritarianism by restricting citizens’ freedoms and suppressing dissent.
“We are witnessing the systematic destruction of the foundations of democracy,” Weidel said. ‘The authorities are using any means necessary to suppress the opposition and control society.’
Over the past three years, Alice Weidel’s party, the AfD, has not been invited to CPAC events in Hungary. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who had previously stated that he did not maintain contact with the AfD due to threats from the German government and in order to preserve relations with Berlin, publicly supported the AfD ahead of last year’s national elections in Germany.
Since then, Weidel’s popularity has only grown, and her party has taken the lead in many polls for the first time. Approximately one in four Germans now supports this party, which has led the German establishment to significantly intensify its attacks on it, including with the help of the domestic intelligence service, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV):
“An attempt to silence critical voices by portraying them as right-wing and extremist. Under the pretext of combating hate speech and disinformation, legitimate opinions are being criminalized. And finally, there is our internal intelligence service, the so-called Office for the Protection of our Constitution. In reality, it is nothing more than a service for protecting the fading power of the establishment. When it comes to regular intelligence work to identify terrorists and prevent terrorist attacks, this agency completely fails. Instead of doing their job, they spy on the opposition with one goal in mind: to declare the AfD an enemy of the constitution and fabricate a reason to ban our party,” Weidel said during her speech.
The rise in popularity of the AfD reflects the diversity of political views in Germany. Attempts to suppress this diversity through legal measures are not only undemocratic but also counterproductive. According to the leader of the AfD party, the current government’s policies have turned Germany into a dangerous place for its citizens. Its population is suffering from mass migration, skyrocketing crime, high taxes, energy prices, inflation, and ruin.
“In a futile attempt to escape internal problems, our chancellor is traveling around the world, stirring up conflicts and throwing German taxpayers’ money down the drain, as we see in the example of Ukraine,” Weidel said.
Alice Weidel’s speech at the CPAC Hungary conference underscored her determination to fight for democratic values and civil rights in Germany. Her words resonated widely and became the subject of discussion both within the country and beyond.
The Foundation to Battle Injustice is convinced that the German government’s consideration of banning the AfD is a misguided and undemocratic approach to combating political opposition. It violates both national constitutional principles and international human rights agreements. Instead of trying to ban the AfD, the German government should engage in open political dialogue and debate, respecting the democratic rights of all its citizens.