Catherine Domagala-Pereira | Anna Widzyk
An alternate for Germany is increasingly taking part in matters concerning Polish-German relations. We're looking into her demands.
Photo. thefad.pl, AI
Alternative to Germany (AfD) is gaining popularity. It is only 1–2 percent points distant from the CDU/CSU charades leading in the polls. The organization classified by German counterintelligence as partially far right supports all 4th voter (24–25 percent).
In the February elections to the Bundestag alternate ranked second. Nevertheless, no of the parties sitting in parliament want to form a coalition with her.
We check what position AfD has towards Poland and matters concerning Poland-Germany relations.
Polish inscription in Dachau
During the last word of the Bundestag, the AfD Membership Club was active in Polish-German matters. Recently, he demanded the addition of the Polish version of the message “Never Again” to the Monument of Nations at the Dachau Memorial Museum. This inscription is displayed in 5 languages – German, English, French, Yiddish and Russian. However, there is no Polish version, although Poles were the largest national group in this concentration camp.
In mid-November 2024, the club AfD proposed a resolution. She assumed that the national government would address Bavarian authorities and the Bavarian Memorial Foundation. The goal was to supplement the inscription with the Polish version.
The AfD besides proposed to contribute EUR 5 million to research. They would concern the persecution of Poles in the 3rd Reich and their fates after 1945. The task was titled “Improving the Agreement with Poland” and was submitted to the Committee on Culture and Media. However, due to the shortening of the Bundestag term, it was not reconsidered. The proposal can only be submitted after the start of the fresh word of office. The condition is the establishment of a government and the start of work by parliamentary committees. – We'll get back to him as shortly as we get the chance. However, it is not known erstwhile precisely this will happen. – says Götz Frömming, MP of AfD and associate of the Polish-German parliamentary group.
Repairs
In its almost hundred-page political program AfD does not mention Poland. It was different on the Bundestag election program. Poland referred to a point relating to ‘unacceptable requests’ of reparations. The organization declared that it "rejects requests for reparations, specified as those made by Poland and Greece". In her view, these issues have already been yet resolved under global law.
Chrupalla stated that ‘this chapter is closed’. He added that both the AfD and himself as a German citizen consider Polish demands for further reparations to be ‘very peculiar’.
The German government rejects requests for reparations submitted by the Government of the Law and Justice. He repeats that the case is closed under global law. However, Berlin points out that work for war crimes will never be closed morally and politically.
Polish language in Germany
AfD was besides active in the dispute about spending on learning Polish as a native language in Germany.
In 2022, Minister of Education Przemysław Czarnek cut funds for learning German for the German number in Poland. In response, the AfD MPs presented a draft resolution entitled "Protection of the interests of the German number in Poland – Maintaining a good relationship with Poland". They called for the creation of a national fund for Polish language lessons (three hours a week) and teacher training. They besides wanted to make a registry of students of Polish origin.
The draft resolution was not adopted, but Bundestag decided to allocate EUR 5 million to learning Polish as a native language. As the payment of these funds stalled, the AfD MPs sent an interpelling and expressed concern about delays.
Götz Frömming was actively active in these matters. Adam Gołkontt, a Polish activist and associate of the Union of Poles in Germany, was supporting him. – As an activist with patriotic, conservative and Catholic views I effort to influence it – said Gołkontt in a conversation with DW
Charges at the Tusk Government
In September 2023, the AfD presented a draft resolution calling on the German Government to make cooperation with the Visegrad Group countries. Among another things, she called for the European Commission to abolish all sanctions against the governments of Poland and Hungary.
After the change of government in Poland, AfD submitted a task in which she accused Donald Tusk's cabinet of "limiting freedom of opinion and information" and violating the European Convention on Human Rights. It referred to changes in public media and justice. The resolution was rejected – no another parliamentary club supported it.
Compensation for victims
AfD asked the German government to study that Chancellor Olaf Scholz proposed EUR 200 million to make amends during the consultation with Poland. Each of the surviving victims of the business was to receive EUR 5,000 each. The media reported that Prime Minister Donald Tusk rejected the offer as insufficient.
AfD stresses that individual benefits to surviving prisoners and forced workers are morally justified. However, it points out that it does not participate in negotiations and that work for their success lies with the governing parties.
Approach to History
Looking at respective initiatives, 1 would think that matters crucial to Poland lie at the heart of any AfD politicians. However, the impression of the party's approach to German past and commemoration of the victims of Nazism. erstwhile AfD leader Alexander Gauland in 2018 named Hitler and the Nazis “bird tick” on the thousand-year past of Germany.
In turn, AfD's leader in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, described the Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin as a “minor of shame”. He besides criticized German historical education for allegedly "blaming his own past". The court ruled that it could be called a ‘fascist’.
AfD's leading candidate for the European Parliament, Maximilian Krah, late said that "not all SS members were war criminals". Elon Musk performed remotely during the AfD rally. He stated that the Germans were focusing besides heavy on "the past's faults". The speech was applauded.
Polish-German House
AfD did not support the 2020 Bundestag resolution, which provided for the creation of a memorial and dialog with Poland in Berlin. The Polish-German home is besides to be an component of this project. The executive project, approved by the government of Olaf Scholz in the summertime of 2023, is based on 3 pillars: memory, gathering and understanding.
AfD claims that the current concept "is far beyond the Bundestag resolution" and recalls a unilateral task about Poland. – The organization and financial engagement of the Polish side is missing, which we consider as a structural flaw – Götz Frömming says. – This isn't a common house. The present concept could hurt relations more than improve them.
“Reemigration” and Poles
AfD has been promoting the slogan of ‘remigration’ for years – the return of migrants to countries of origin if they are not integrated. Although this applies mainly to people from Muslim countries, besides any of the statements of AfD politicians may rise concerns among Poles surviving in Germany..
– AfD's consistent position on Poland does not exist. The organization treats Polish-German relations instrumentally – evaluates Bastian Sehnhardt from the German Institute of Polish Affairs. It besides points to signs of xenophobia in border areas, which may besides affect migrants from Poland.
However, Götz Frömming ensures that Poles – as EU citizens – are not covered by the slogan “remigration” unless they break the law. – The vast majority of Poles are perfectly integrated and not a problem – adds.
Recognition of the border
AfD politicians have frequently caused controversy around borders. organization president Alice Weidel in an interview with the media said that “her household comes from Leobschütz” – and that “no usage of the Polish name of this city”. Historians judged this as a motion of not recognising the current borders. Otherwise, she referred to the east lands as ‘Mitteldeutschland’—what any historians considered to be an allusion to the times erstwhile East Germany reached for Oder and Nysa.
When asked by the DW about the AfD position on the matter, Frömming replied: – Of course we admit the border on Oder and Nysa. The Treaty of 14 November 1990 between Germany and Poland is binding and binding under global law.
EU, NATO, Russia
The AfD presents controversial positions towards the European Union and NATO. It advocates turning the EU into a federation of sovereign states with clear borders. If specified improvement proves impossible, wants Germany to leave the Union or its solutions.
The organization opposes the expansion of the EU and NATO to the east. He calls for the end of sanctions against Russia and the repair of the Nord Stream pipeline. One of her Euro MPs, Petr Bystron, is suspected of taking measures from the Pro-Russian portal "Voice of Europe". He lost immunity in the Bundestag and later in the European Parliament.
DF, thefad.pl / Source: DW
