Attracting those against the single currency, Alternative für Deutschland seeks to tap into resentment over bailouts
In devotedly pro-European Germany, it is a radical message. In a packed beer hall meeting on the outskirts of Stuttgart, Roland Klaus tells scores of middle-aged, middle-class Germans what they want to hear. In short – no more bailouts.
"We've got the possibility to stop this madness," the former financial TV journalist intones. "Germany pays for no more rescue packages."
In an election in which the major parties essentially support Chancellor Angela Merkel's approach to the euro crisis, and two-thirds of Germans back her euro rescue plans, it is a surprise to find that thousands of Germans want to leave the single currency.
The conventional argument is that Germany has come out of the euro crisis better than its partners, and that Merkel has protected German national interests by foisting austerity on the European south.
But not everyone sees it that way. And a new party, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), is seeking to tap into that resentment to get seats in parliament in next Sunday's election.
The alternative to further bailouts, says the party, would be to refuse aid to faltering economies, encouraging them to leave the eurozone under their own steam. This would pave the way for a two-speed Europe with parallel currencies – one for the struggling south and one for the productive north.
The plan appeals to German voters like those in Baden-Württemberg, home to the country's automobile industry and global headquarters of luxury carmakers Daimler and Porsche. Many here say the euro was always doomed because of the cultural gulf between the "lazy" south and the "industrious" north.
And if a smaller, streamlined eurozone failed to materialise, the party has dared to suggest Germany would be better off out of it. "We'd say it clear. It can't be a taboo any more that it's an option for Germany to return to the Deutschmark," the AfD's Klaus tells his supporters to rapturous applause.
"We want to work with strong partners," says local AfD member Julian Eisenhardt, 23, an environmental science student. "But we can't change cultures. Greece exports feta cheese and olive oil. It can't keep pace with what we produce in the northern countries."
The AfD was formed in April by an economics professor, Bernd Lucke, who has described the euro as a "great mistake and failure". It has remained a fringe party with notions that are not discussed in mainstream political discourse. Even as Germany winced its way through three years of crisis, bailouts and skyrocketing national debt, openly anti-euro sentiments have remained off-limits for all mainstream parties. And despite everything, 66% of Germans support Merkel's policy of rescuing the euro, whatever the cost to the taxpayer.
But this idealistic commitment to Europe, says the AfD, is blinding the country to the long-term costs of repeatedly bailing out the eurozone. It is calling for a sober reanalysis of the economic facts in the name of securing Germany's long-term financial stability.
"We aren't left or right," Klaus says. "We're citizens who are worried about the future of our country."
For all Germany's official pro-European rhetoric, there are signs that these fears are not uncommon. A poll in April suggested just under a third of Germans would in principle vote for an anti-euro party – yet it is still unclear whether this will translate into the minimum 5% of votes needed for the eurosceptics to enter parliament in next weekend's election.
"The issue of Europe, let alone the common European currency, has never [yet] played a role in a German election," says Peter Matuschek, political analyst at German public opinion researchers Forsa. "As a purely anti-euro party, the AfD would have no chance of getting enough votes to enter parliament."
Wary of being pigeonholed as a single-issue party, the AfD has promoted its wider, populist policies. Calls for a tougher stance on unskilled immigrants and stricter rules on benefits to stem economic migrants appeal to the rightwing populist vote, as does the promotion of Swiss-style direct democracy based on referendums.
In response, leftwing groups have accused the AfD of providing a political home for neo-Nazis and racists, something vehemently denied by the leadership. Yet over the summer regional chapters said they had seen attempts by Germany's far-right fringe to infiltrate the party. This caught the attention of violent extremists on the left, prompting anti-fascists to attack Lucke with pepper spray at a rally.
Desperate to shake off this damaging association, the AfD has distanced itself from other anti-EU parties across Europe, emphasising it is not calling for Germany to exit the EU. "We're against the euro in its current form because we're for Europe and we fear for the peaceful co-existence of European countries," said Klaus.
Unsure how to tackle the AfD's anti-euro message, Germany's main parties have kept silent and tried to keep the currency crisis off the agenda until after the election. But the party's fortunes were given a pre-election boost last month when the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, indicated that Greece would probably need yet another bailout.
Since then party officials say their support has swelled and they are now expecting to hit at least 7% or 8% of the vote, despite struggling to top 3% in the polls.
Other indications suggest the party is causing a stir online. Analysis by fanpagekarma showed the AfD had the fastest growing fanbase on Facebook and was being mentioned more often than any other party.
Party leader Lucke has even claimed the AfD has been the victim of a plot by pro-euro politicians, media and even opinion polls to play down a recent groundswell of support, an accusation dismissed by Forsa as a conspiracy theory.
Yet pollsters admit voters could be reluctant to say they will vote for the renegade party, leaving analysts unaware as to whether it will gain the 5% of votes needed to win seats in the Bundestag lower house.
Analysts say the AfD's chances on 22 September will be at the mercy of unpredictable protest voters. "At every election … there are protest voters who, without ideological conviction, vote for any party they feel will most clearly demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the status quo," says Klaus-Peter Schöppner, head of opinion pollster Emnid.
These and other voters could also be attracted to the AfD by media reports that a strong showing for the party could wreak havoc with parliamentary arithmetic. If the party gets enough votes to enter the Bundestag it could deny a majority to either the current coalition government or the opposition – potentially forcing Merkel into a pact with rivals the Social Democratic party (SPD). Neither party wants this, but polls suggest this would be a majority of voters' preferred outcome.
"Protest voters tend to choose the party which will most annoy the government and the main opposition if it gets votes. At this election that could well be the AfD," predicted Schöppner.
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