The impact of the rise of the far right in Germany on Berlin's aid to Kiev

2024-09-04 16:03:06, Kosova & Bota CNA

German military support for Ukraine and aid for Ukrainian refugees resettled in Germany have been called into question after an election in which a far-right political party won power in an eastern German state.

Even the extreme left showed growth in these elections. VOA's correspondent takes a look at the outcome of these votes and the impact it may have on aid to Ukraine.

The far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, scored a landslide victory in the eastern state of Thuringia and came second in neighboring Saxony.

"The majority of voters want changes. But political changes cannot be achieved without the main political force in Thuringia. I am curious to see how the old parties can manage to form a losing coalition that is attractive to voters," says the leader of the AfD, Bjoern Hoecke.

This is the far right's first victory in a German state since World War II. The newly formed far-left party BSW came third.

Although this was an expected result, it has shocked many of Germany's allies, including Ukraine. Germany is the second largest military supporter of Ukraine, after the United States. Now this has been questioned.

"Both forces, that of the extreme right and that of the extreme left, campaigned with calls to cut German aid to Ukraine, emphasizing the reduction of military aid. They called on the government to finally put pressure on the Ukrainians to start negotiations with Russia," says Mattia Nelles, co-founder of the German-Ukrainian bureau.

In the short term, analysts say the results of the state elections will not affect the federal government's financial aid to Ukraine.

"But there is a slight change in the rhetoric of the four center parties. Some of them have embraced the statements or frameworks of populist and far-right parties," says Mr. Nelles.

The German Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner, of the liberal FDP party, part of the governing coalition, is pushing for the aid to Kyiv to be halved in the next budget. His party won less than 5 percent in Thuringia's state election, and he fears the same could happen again in next year's federal election.

"It's a battle for political survival, especially for the liberals, who are calling for budget cuts for Ukraine," says Liana Fix from the Council on Foreign Relations organization.

Immigration was one of the defining issues in the rise of the far right, which emphasized non-Europeans, particularly Muslim immigrants.

But Germany has also sheltered more than a million Ukrainian refugees.

"The issue of whether and how they should be financed and whether they should be returned to Ukraine is sensitive. We have men, who are of the right age to join the army. There is increasing pressure on Ukrainian men who have taken refuge in Germany to encourage their return to Ukraine," says analyst Nelles.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party noted that German intelligence services have designated the AfD as an extremist party and added that its victory in Thuringia should serve as a "wake-up call"./ VOA