Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's Minister President Manuela Schwesig has labeled the AfD a 'dangerous party'. In an interview with Stern, she warns against the right-wing populists' positions, which she considers hypocritical. Ahead of the state election on September 20, she advocates preserving freedoms since 1989.
In an interview with Stern, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's Minister President Manuela Schwesig (SPD) sharply criticized the Alternative for Germany (AfD). 'I understand people's discontent', she said. 'Nevertheless, it is wrong to vote for the AfD because of it, as it is a dangerous party.' With the AfD, nothing would improve, but much would worsen, emphasized the Social Democrat, who seeks confirmation as Minister President in the state election on September 20.
Schwesig accuses the AfD of merely posing as an East German party while actually opposing the interests of East Germans. 'For example, it is against the minimum wage or collective bargaining wages', she explained. The AfD's patriotism is 'an equally great hypocrisy', as the party supports Donald Trump and thereby betrays German interests.
Moreover, Schwesig does not consider the AfD a 'peace party' as it claims. 'It supports Putin and thus his war of aggression', she said in citizen dialogues. The Minister President is confident that fewer people will vote for the AfD in the election than polls suggest. 'The vast majority does not want what was fought for in 1989 and 1990 – freedom of opinion, cultural freedom, freedom of the press – to be restricted or lost', she stressed. She does not want conditions like in the US, where a president hollows out the democratic rule of law.
