Sidelined by rivals, Germany's far-right AfD bides time
ABC News
Migration is a side issue in this year’s German election campaign, but that hasn’t stopped the country’s biggest far-right party from trying to play it up
BERLIN -- Migration is a side issue in this year's German election campaign, but that hasn't stopped the country's biggest far-right party from trying to play it up.
“Cologne, Kassel or Konstanz can't cope with more Kabul,” Alternative for Germany declared on one of its election posters — a reference to the government's decision to take in Afghans who had worked for the German military or aid groups before the Taliban takeover.
Another, showing a retired couple embracing on a pier, read: “We'll share our pensions, but not with the whole world. Solidarity has its limits.”
The party rattled Germany's political establishment four years ago, when it came third in parliamentary elections after stoking anti-migrant sentiment over Chancellor Angela Merkel's 2015 decision to allow hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty into the country.