A video of young far-right voters singing an anti-foreigner song at an Alternative for Germany (AfD) party election celebration has triggered outrage online.
The video, in which supporters of the far-right party sing about “kicking” foreigners out, was shot on Sunday evening as they celebrated the party' strong performance in the state election results of Germany’s eastern state of Brandenburg.
The AfD came in second at 29.2% behind the center-left Social Democrats, which got 30.2%, increasing its voter haul on the last Brandenburg vote five years ago by 5.7 percentage points.
In an apparent attempt to antagonize a small counter demonstration by anti-fascist activists, the young AfD members, who had gathered in a Potsdam bar, started playing a song set to a 2011 dance hit through a portable speaker that included the lyric: “Hey, it’s happening; we’re kicking them out.”
One of the partygoers also held up a sign saying: “DEPORT MILLIONS.”
According to a German tabloid, Bild, the rewritten song also included the lyric: “This is JA music; every club is on fire here. We’re celebrating like never before; throw your hands in the air.”
The AfD came in second at 29.2% behind the center-left Social Democrats, which got 30.2%, increasing its voter haul on the last Brandenburg vote five years ago by 5.7 percentage points.
In an apparent attempt to antagonize a small counter demonstration by anti-fascist activists, the young AfD members, who had gathered in a Potsdam bar, started playing a song set to a 2011 dance hit through a portable speaker that included the lyric: “Hey, it’s happening; we’re kicking them out.”
One of the partygoers also held up a sign saying: “DEPORT MILLIONS.”
According to a German tabloid, Bild, the rewritten song also included the lyric: “This is JA music; every club is on fire here. We’re celebrating like never before; throw your hands in the air.”
JA is the abbreviation for Junge Alternative, the AfD's youth organization.
The video caused outrage after it was posted on the social media platform X and prompted one former Green politician to file a criminal complaint, saying the song incites racial hatred and violence.
AfD targets young people
However, the fact that it was a group of youngsters celebrating the AfD’s results with beer, music, and dancing surprised few.
Data obtained by the German statistics platform Statista on the demographics of the voters in this year’s Brandenburg’s state election showed that 64% of the AfD party’s voters are between 16 and 34 years old, with 31% between the ages of 16 and 24.
German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported that the AfD targets young voters through the savvy use of social media, particularly on the Instagram and TikTok platforms.
The AfD’s Maximilian Krah, a member of the European Parliament, regularly appears on TikTok. In one video, he is seen saying: "One in three young men in Germany has never had a girlfriend. Are you one of them?
"Don't watch porn; don't vote Green; go outside into the fresh air,” he continues. “Be confident. And above all, don't believe you need to be nice and soft. Real men stand on the far right. Real men are patriots. That's the way to find a girlfriend!"
German federal government drifts right
Fierce criticism of Krah and the AfD as a whole, however, has failed to douse the growing popularity of the party, and it now poses a significant challenge to the center-left governing coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Earlier this month the AfD became the first far-right party to win an election in Germany since the 1930s when it won local elections in the state of Thuringia, so last weekend’s narrow election squeak has piled more pressure on a chancellor already under pressure from woeful opinion polls and infighting in his coalition.
The video caused outrage after it was posted on the social media platform X and prompted one former Green politician to file a criminal complaint, saying the song incites racial hatred and violence.
AfD targets young people
However, the fact that it was a group of youngsters celebrating the AfD’s results with beer, music, and dancing surprised few.
Data obtained by the German statistics platform Statista on the demographics of the voters in this year’s Brandenburg’s state election showed that 64% of the AfD party’s voters are between 16 and 34 years old, with 31% between the ages of 16 and 24.
German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported that the AfD targets young voters through the savvy use of social media, particularly on the Instagram and TikTok platforms.
The AfD’s Maximilian Krah, a member of the European Parliament, regularly appears on TikTok. In one video, he is seen saying: "One in three young men in Germany has never had a girlfriend. Are you one of them?
"Don't watch porn; don't vote Green; go outside into the fresh air,” he continues. “Be confident. And above all, don't believe you need to be nice and soft. Real men stand on the far right. Real men are patriots. That's the way to find a girlfriend!"
German federal government drifts right
Fierce criticism of Krah and the AfD as a whole, however, has failed to douse the growing popularity of the party, and it now poses a significant challenge to the center-left governing coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Earlier this month the AfD became the first far-right party to win an election in Germany since the 1930s when it won local elections in the state of Thuringia, so last weekend’s narrow election squeak has piled more pressure on a chancellor already under pressure from woeful opinion polls and infighting in his coalition.
In what has been seen as an apparent attempt to steal some of the AfD’s thunder and shore up its own position on September 9, the federal government announced plans to impose tighter controls at all the country’s land borders to tackle “irregular migration” and protect the public from threats such as Islamist extremism.
On September 11, the international human rights organization, Amnesty International, joined 26 other non-governmental organizations and associations in an appeal to the German federal government to reverse its plans. They reminded it of its obligations under EU and international law to respect a refugee’s right to seek asylum.
“Seeking asylum is a human right. Calls to turn back people seeking protection at German borders are clearly contrary to European law,” the organization wrote on its website.
The secretary general of Amnesty International, Julia Duchrow, said: “The current debate about an alleged emergency situation and rejections of those seeking protection at German borders endanger European cohesion.”
On September 11, the international human rights organization, Amnesty International, joined 26 other non-governmental organizations and associations in an appeal to the German federal government to reverse its plans. They reminded it of its obligations under EU and international law to respect a refugee’s right to seek asylum.
“Seeking asylum is a human right. Calls to turn back people seeking protection at German borders are clearly contrary to European law,” the organization wrote on its website.
The secretary general of Amnesty International, Julia Duchrow, said: “The current debate about an alleged emergency situation and rejections of those seeking protection at German borders endanger European cohesion.”
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