Visiting an eastern German town that backs the far-right AfD

DW (English)

In the past, AfD voters have been reluctant to talk on camera about backing the party – not anymore. DW correspondent Matthew Moore went to Bernau near Berlin to find out out why one in three people voted for the AfD.

Transcript

00:00Carnival in Germany. A chance to mock the political establishment.

00:07Here in the East, that now includes the AFD.

00:17But while they take jabs at the far-right's lack of vision,

00:20there are plenty here who say they back the alternative for Germany.

00:26We wanted to change something, quite simply in politics,

00:29because it's always just about wealth.

00:31And the small businesses, they can pack up because of the last government.

00:36They've ruined a lot of things.

00:38If you have the chance to change things, then you change them,

00:41even if that's through the AFD.

00:44In the past, AFD voters have been reluctant to talk on camera about backing the party.

00:49Not anymore. Some vote out of frustration.

00:53Because the others had their chance and they produced so much crap,

00:58you can't trust them anymore.

01:01Others point to recent deadly attacks carried out by migrants.

01:06It can't keep going the way things have been going in Germany.

01:10With all these attacks, they are all stacking up.

01:14I was hoping for some positive change in our country.

01:19I voted for the AFD because things are a mess in Germany.

01:28My problem started in 2015, when the borders were opened.

01:35Perhaps surprisingly, the anti-immigration AFD

01:38is most successful in places with fewer foreigners.

01:42Some scientists attribute this to a lack of positive experiences with immigrants.

01:46Over lunch, we meet a man who didn't vote for the AFD.

01:51I used to be a bit right-wing during East German times.

01:54It was a bit worse.

01:56I come from Eberswalde, which used to be really far right.

02:00But I've got a great colleague I always worked well with.

02:03I got to see a different side.

02:08So your colleague has a migration background.

02:11What did that do for you?

02:14It's all fine.

02:16He's 30 years old and has been working with us for eight or nine years.

02:20He's always there.

02:24Back at the carnival, frustration when asked about the AFD.

02:29It's been the same story for thousands of years.

02:32It's been foreigners and others to blame, not yourself.

02:37If you don't stand up for society,

02:39if you don't take responsibility,

02:41but just crow about the many foreigners,

02:44the poor people who don't want to go to work.

02:47It's all just stupid stuff.

02:53Today, carnival is the preferred antidote to the politics of populism.

02:57But in the long term, politicians may need to come up with a better answer.

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