Concern about Germany as a location – desperately looking for an anti-AfD strategy

Local government officials also believe this scenario is possible. The recent AfD successes in local elections in Saxony-Anhalt and in Sonneberg in Thuringia have increased concerns. “Sonneberg can be repeated everywhere in the Federal Republic tomorrow,” Thuringia’s Economics Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) told the Handelsblatt.

In the district of Sonneberg, AfD politician Robert Stuhlmann took up office as district administrator on Monday after beating the CDU candidate in a runoff.

What the AfD benefits from

Polls also show that the vast majority of the population and companies are cosmopolitan and defend democracy. “Nevertheless, I am very concerned about the development towards the AfD’s acceptance and acceptability,” added the minister. “A party that wants to seal off the country and serves xenophobic clichés is a spanner in the works of the economy.”

Brandenburg’s Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach sees it similarly. When it comes to skilled workers, companies are also dependent on personnel from abroad. “In order for this to succeed and for the skilled workers to remain, a culture of welcome and active support when arriving in the new home is needed – both in the company and in the community, in society,” said the SPD politician to the Handelsblatt.

The AfD sees things differently. This became clear most recently in the concluding Bundestag debate on the Skilled Immigration Act. The party was clearly opposed to the project, despite the fact that business supports the traffic light plans.

The AfD MP Norbert Kleinwächter railed against the law, which in his view only ensures “that everyone comes in, but no one gets kicked out”. Germany needs skilled workers, but not from abroad.

>> Read also: Economists warn of the consequences of the AfD survey high

It is also such allegations that are currently driving voters to the AfD, says Mainz political scientist Kai Arzheimer, whose research focuses on right-wing extremist parties in Europe. “As in the past, the AfD can benefit from the very large refugee movements and from the public dispute about the care of the refugees and their financing,” he said.

The AfD is also “currently the only party that is clearly opposed to supporting Ukraine and is stoking hidden worries and fears about the war and its consequences in order to benefit from it.”

Thuringia’s AfD leader Björn Höcke is already predicting a “political earthquake” in the three state elections in the east next year. That doesn’t seem unlikely at the moment, believes the Dresden political scientist Hans Vorländer. The current dissatisfaction with government policy is “fertile ground for the AfD”.

The Thuringia Business Association (VWT) also states this. “Freedom has a special status in East Germany”, VWT General Manager Stephan Fauth pointed out. If politicians resort to bans and regulations, this will result in dissatisfaction and low acceptance.

As evidence, Fauth referred to regular surveys by the state government – the so-called Thuringia Monitor. In the most recent survey, 69 percent of respondents in Thuringia felt “politically left behind” with regard to the federal government, and 41 percent at the state level.

Chancellor Scholz wants to stop the AfD with decisions on everyday problems of the citizens

Fauth considers the development to be problematic. “Further strengthening of right-wing extremist forces not only harms Thuringia as a business location, but also the Free State, because the potential for skilled workers is largely exhausted,” he said. “We need immigration and want these people to feel welcome in Thuringia.”

However, this is not easy to implement. “Because of the language and the bureaucratic hurdles, it is more difficult for Germany than for many other countries to recruit skilled workers,” points out political scientist Arzheimer. “If you are then told that you are not welcome and that you may even have to fear persecution, that doesn’t make the location any more attractive.”

>> Read also: AfD successes bring the CDU under pressure

In the search for a way out of the dilemma, the parties are clearly having a hard time. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and SPD leader Lars Klingbeil want to stop the AfD from soaring with decisions on everyday problems of the citizens.

It is necessary to give people a positive future perspective and to show them respect, Scholz said on ARD. Klingbeil named wages, housing, pensions and affordable energy as issues where “good politics” is required. Beatrix

Thuringia’s economy also advises paying more attention to the local people. Politicians must provide answers to the widespread feeling of being left behind, said VWT Managing Director Fauth.

It is important here to “noticeably” improve the quality of life of the local people. As an example, Fauth cited the expansion of local public transport in rural areas. “Often only school buses drive there regularly.”

Brandenburg’s Economics Minister Steinbach warned: “We must not react polemically to the polemics of the AfD, but must react with objectivity and serious, solution-oriented politics.” One task is to enable people to have equal living conditions and in particular to support the regions that have fewer be financially strong. “A clever settlement and investment policy is just as much a part of this as the financial resources of municipalities.”

In Thuringia, Economics Minister Tiefensee wants to focus more on AfD voters, who, in his view, often do not like the party’s program at all, but who, out of dissatisfaction, still sympathize with it. “You can win people back if you argue openly and honestly and, above all, act constructively politically.”

Tiefensee also sees the economy as having a responsibility here. “I therefore appeal at every opportunity, for example to the managing directors of companies, not to duck away, but to actively seek discourse.”

More: How AI could become a threat to democracy