☰
HomeLiving Beyond BordersGZERO WorldSignalIn 60 SecondsPuppet RegimeGZERO World PodcastContact UsAbout UsCareersPrivacy PolicyTerms

A black eye for Germany’s far right

January 29, 2024
Willis Sparks
​A demonstrator holds a sign reading "Hate makes you small" at a rally organized by the German Trade Union Confederation on "For Democracy and Solidarity" on Jan. 27, 2024.
A demonstrator holds a sign reading "Hate makes you small" at a rally organized by the German Trade Union Confederation on "For Democracy and Solidarity" on Jan. 27, 2024.
Reuters Marketplace - DPA Multimedia Wire
Every few months, there is new media coverage of a surge in public support across Europe for populists identified as “far right,” meaning that their policies reflect a kind of tribalist, anti-immigrant anger. The trend is real. We’ve seen it in different forms in every major country in Europe. But less media coverage is devoted to the political backlash these parties sometimes provoke when their opponents can argue they’ve gone too far. That’s real too.

That’s one way to understand why the Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, was narrowly defeated last weekend in a local election in a place it has scored wins in the past. A recent scandal involving contact between AfD leaders and officials considered neo-Nazis – conversations that reportedly centered on plans to deport immigrants, including some who have German citizenship – set off a firestorm.

Last weekend, anti-AfD protests filled the streets of some 30 German cities, and that sentiment appears to have pushed higher-than-expect turnout among anti-AfD voters for the election in the German state of Thuringia.

There will be larger elections in this region in September, and AfD may well perform much better. But last weekend’s protests and local election results, from a place considered an AfD stronghold, remind us that Europe’s anti-populist political forces are strong too.

More from GZERO Media

US and China limp toward trade war thaw

A 3D-printed miniature model depicting US President Donald Trump, the Chinese flag, and the word "tariffs" in this illustration taken on April 17, 2025.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

The US economy contracted 0.3% at an annualized rate in the first quarter of 2025, while China’s manufacturing plants saw their sharpest monthly slowdown in over a year. Behind the scenes, the world’s two largest economies are backing away from their extraordinary trade war.

The US-Ukraine minerals deal is finally done

A photovoltaic power station with a capacity of 0.8 MW covers an area of more than 3,000 square metres at the industrial site of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Kyiv region, Ukraine, on April 12, 2025.
Volodymyr Tarasov/Ukrinform/ABACAPRESS.COM

Two months after their infamous White House fight, the US and Ukraine announced on Wednesday that they had finally struck a long-awaited minerals deal.

India and Pakistan inch toward a major clash

Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol along a road in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 29, 2025.
Firdous Nazir via Reuters Connect

Nerves are fraught throughout Pakistan after authorities said Wednesday they have “credible intelligence” that India plans to launch military strikes on its soil by Friday.

Hamas: Then & Now

Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters form a human chain in front of the crowd gathered near the family home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, where the Hamas militant group prepares to hand over Israeli and Thai hostages to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis, on January 30, 2025, as part of their third hostage-prisoner exchange..
Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhot

Israel hunted Yahya Sinwar — the Hamas leader and mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack — for over a year. He was hidden deep within Gaza’s shadowy tunnel networks.

Israel strikes Syrian security forces

A gunman stands as Syrian security forces check vehicles entering Druze town of Jaramana, following deadly clashes sparked by a purported recording of a Druze man cursing the Prophet Mohammad which angered Sunni gunmen, as rescuers and security sources say, in southeast of Damascus, Syria April 29, 2025.
REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar

Israel said the deadly drone strike was carried out on behalf of Syria's Druze community.

Will King Charles give the throne speech in Canada?

Britain's King Charles holds an audience with the Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney at Buckingham Palace, on March 17, 2025.

Aaron Chown/Pool via REUTERS

King Charles is rumored to have been invited to Canada to deliver the speech from the throne, likely in late May, although whether he attends may depend on sensitivities in the office of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

North America is facing an energy emergency, says Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel

Enbridge

Getting access to energy, whether it's renewables, oil and gas, or other sources, is increasingly challenging because of long lead times to get things built in the US and elsewhere, says Greg Ebel, Enbridge's CEO, on the latest "Energized: The Future of Energy" podcast episode. And it's not just problems with access. “There is an energy emergency, if we're not careful, when it comes to price,” says Ebel. “There's definitely an energy emergency when it comes to having a resilient grid, whether it's a pipeline grid, an electric grid. That's something I think people have to take seriously.” Ebel believes that finding "the intersection of rhetoric, policy, and capital" can lead to affordability and profitability for the energy transition. His discussion with host JJ Ramberg and Arjun Murti, founder of the energy transition newsletter Super-Spiked, addresses where North America stands in the global energy transition, the implication of the revised energy policies by President Trump, and the potential consequences of tariffs and trade tension on the energy sector. “Energized: The Future of Energy” is a podcast series produced by GZERO Media's Blue Circle Studios in partnership with Enbridge. Listen to this episode at gzeromedia.com/energized, or on Apple, Spotify,Goodpods, or wherever you get your podcasts.

About UsCareers PressContact Us Privacy PolicyTerms of Use
© 2025 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group media company.