How Germany’s far right intends to use its big stage in opposition

BERLIN — The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has never had a bigger stage.

The party is set to become the largest opposition force in Germany’s Bundestag after securing its best outcome yet in a national election, taking second place behind the conservative winners in the Feb. 23 ballot and almost doubling its parliamentary seat total.

That position provides the party with material benefits and also its greatest platform yet from which to attack the next coalition government.

“We have doubled in size. That’s pretty much a landslide victory,” said Bernd Baumann, a member of the AfD’s parliamentary leadership. “As a result, we now have completely different political clout.”

The role of the largest opposition party in Germany is in many ways symbolic, but comes with privileges including the right of first reply after the chancellor speaks in parliament.

The AfD is sure to use that limelight to hammer any government formed under Friedrich Merz, the conservative leader who is set to become the country’s next chancellor, as part of a failing, mainstream establishment — an approach that has worked for far-right parties across Europe. With double the parliamentary speaking time, the AfD is likely to seize on anti-immigration sentiment, widespread dissatisfaction over the weak economy and fear of escalation in the war in Ukraine.

Experts say the role will play to the AfD’s strengths.

“The public arena would be the plenary hall, and that’s where parties like the AfD are very strong and visible,” said Michael Kolkmann, a political science professor at the University of Halle who studies Germany’s parliamentary system. “If you take a look at the speeches, most of them are not even directed at their colleagues from the other political parties, but speeches are given to create content for TikTok or Instagram.”

AfD to attack ‘firewall’

The AfD was the biggest opposition force once before, when it first entered parliament in 2017. But the dynamics back then were markedly different: The party is considerably stronger now, while the likely governing coalition between the conservatives and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) will be far weaker.

One issue lingering over the next Bundestag is how the conservatives approach the strict “firewall” around the far right. While Merz has vowed not to form a coalition with the AfD, he set off a firestorm ahead of the election by attempting to push through parliament a series of immigration measures with AfD support, weakening the postwar quarantine of the far right.

Merz’s likely coalition with the SPD makes cooperation with the AfD a non-starter — and brings back a strict version of the firewall. In response, the AfD is likely to portray Merz as more interested in governing with the left and maintaining the firewall than in truly cracking down on migration.

AfD leaders believe the firewall will ultimately prove untenable for conservatives.

“Either he breaks his word of honor or he falls back on us. We are always ready to support sensible proposals,” Baumann said. “The pressure will be so great that sooner or later he will come back to us. Or it will tear the conservatives apart.”

More money, bigger committee role

The AfD’s higher vote share also means it will receive more state money, allows its parliamentarians to introduce more motions, and gives them more influence on parliamentary committees.

In Germany, the amount of state funding a party receives depends on its election result and on how much money it gets from its membership. In 2024 the AfD received about €10 million in state funding, but after doubling its vote share and boosting its membership (to around 50,000 late last year), the AfD can expect a financial windfall.

The largest opposition party also gets a greater leadership role in parliamentary committees. Committee chairs are divided according to party strength, with the largest opposition force traditionally heading the country’s budget committee, which negotiates and approves the government’s budget. The AfD, however, could also be interested in heading the home affairs committee, with deals with domestic security.

Baumann, one of the AfD’s parliamentary leaders, would not tell POLITICO which committees his party is shooting for.

In the run-up to the election, its political opponents worried that the AfD would become so strong that its MPs would sit on the parliamentary control committee, which receives briefings by Germany’s intelligence services. 

Roderich Kiesewetter, who sits on that committee for Merz’s conservatives, said he feared the group’s work would be “watered down” if AfD MPs joined its roster after the election. 

“In that case, we won’t hear much more from the secret services. Because it’s not just right-wing extremism that is a problem [regarding] the AfD, but also its links to China and Russia. And the intelligence services will be extremely careful with that, because our foreign partners won’t want information flowing to the AfD either.”

AfD lawmakers are now unlikely to sit on the control committee, as its members need to be voted in with a parliamentary majority.

AfD lawmakers, however, hope if they play their cards right in opposition, they’ll get the votes they need in the next national election.