Merkel's Ukip Warning to German Voters

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Angela Merkel’s conservatives issued a strong warning to German voters not to support a fast-rising eurosceptic party in Sunday’s election, highlighting the growing popularity of Ukip in Britain as an example not to be followed.

The Chancellor’s Christian Democrats (CDU), which had deliberately ignored the small Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) so far in the campaign, deployed one of their most respected figures to rip into the new party.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, the veteran finance minister, said anti-European Union sentiment threatened the region’s progress.

“These people claim: 'We’d be better off economically without the euro’,” he told the weekly Die Zeit. “That claim is totally wrong, has no credibility and is extremely dangerous for our prosperity.”

Referring to Ukip, whose rise has been well noted in Germany, he continued: “In the UK there is a political movement with a high degree of euroscepticism. In France, many fear that at the European elections the National Front will be the strongest party. I am thankful that we in Germany, perhaps because of our history, are a little cautious of demagoguery and right-leaning ideas.”

Mr Schäuble added: “I don’t have any time for these people who seem to be trapped in the past. Anyone who starts, like the AfD, with stoking fears towards Europe, quickly moves towards stoking fears of immigrants.” » | Jeevan Vasagar in Berlin | Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Outsider Upset: Eurosceptic Party Set to Make Waves in German Elections

Germany will be electing a new parliament this weekend, and it's promising to be a close race. With no party heading for an outright majority, coalition talks are likely, with outsider factions possibly having a decisive influence on what the Bundestag looks like, come next week. RT's Peter Oliver attended a rally of one of the parties that is now, unexpectedly, set to make a crucial difference.

'Euro Dead, Stop the Surgery' – ‘Alternative for Germany’ Party
Anti-euro sentiment is going mainstream in Germany - with the launch of a new party dedicated to pulling the plug on the struggling single currency. The group - called 'Alternative for Germany' - says it has already received thousands of membership requests. RT's correspondent Peter Oliver was at the party's first official convention.

Germany's New Anti-Euro Party
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Anti-euro political parties in Europe in recent years have so far tended to be either well to the right of center or, as evidenced by the recent vote in Italy, anything but staid. But in Germany, change may be afoot. A new party is forming this spring, intent on abandoning European efforts to prop up the common currency. And its founders are a collection of some of the country's top economists and academics.

Named Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany), the group has a clear goal: "the dissolution of the euro in favor of national currencies or smaller currency unions." The party also demands an end to aid payments and the dismantling of the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund.

"Democracy is eroding," reads a statement on its website (German only). "The will of the people regarding (decisions relating to the euro) is never queried and is not represented in parliament. The government is depriving voters of a voice through disinformation, is pressuring constitutional organs, like parliament and the Constitutional Court, and is making far-reaching decisions in committees that have no democratic legitimacy."

The sentiment, of course, is hardly new. Euro-skeptics are everywhere these days, particularly in those southern European countries that have been hit hardest by the crisis that continues to plague the common currency. And even in mainstream parties, concerns about the path on which the EU currently finds itself are common. But in Germany, as elsewhere in northern Europe, the most vocal critique of the euro has tended to come from right-wing populist parties. » | Charles Hawley | Friday, March 08, 2013