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Winfried Kretschmann (Alliance 90/The Greens), Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg.
© Marijan Murat/dpa/archive image
Hundreds of thousands are currently taking to the streets against right-wing extremism and the AfD.
The parties must pick up the momentum, demands Prime Minister Kretschmann.
Stuttgart - According to Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann, the democratic parties must engage more closely with the content of the AfD's positions.
Much of what their representatives said could only outrage Democrats, said the Green politician on Tuesday in Stuttgart.
But: “It has been shown that that is not enough.” The AfD must now be put in place.
Politicians must enter into discussions with the party's potential supporters.
If taboos are broken, they are no longer taboos, says Kretschmann.
When school classes meet AfD politicians, it becomes clear that the distance is decreasing.
The series of rallies against the right is also continuing in the southwest.
Protests were planned again on Tuesday, but they are likely to be smaller in Rottenburg and Heilbronn than was recently the case in other cities.
In Rottenburg, the organizers are combining the rally with the memory of the former President of Württemberg and honorary citizen of the city, Eugen Bolz, who was executed by the National Socialists in 1945.
The event is supported by the city administration, the foundation and the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart as well as 70 other associations, institutions and parties.
According to police and organizers, at least 110,000 people demonstrated against right-wing extremism and for democracy in the southwest over the weekend.
According to the responsible police headquarters, the gatherings remained peaceful.
Demonstrations in Hamburg and Munich in recent days have even been canceled due to overcrowding.
New state parliaments will be elected in September in Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia.
According to surveys, the AfD could become the strongest force in all three federal states, sometimes by a significant margin.
Kretschmann said he assessed the demonstrations extremely positively.
These are protests that arose from civil society.
The demos are an important but also necessary sign.
These are “neither black nor green nor red nor yellow marches”, but rather an alliance of the country’s democratic center.
The parties in the democratic center should definitely take this on board and “commit themselves more strongly in this direction” to implement the “basic consensus of the Democrats”.
It is important who is visible in public spaces.
He doesn't know how lasting the effect will be - but he spoke of it as an encouraging sign.
Apart from what right-wing extremists said about “Nazi stuff”, the AfD is a reactionary party, said the head of government.
“No matter what you look at - they just want to go back.” Kretschmann mentioned the debate about the combustion engine and nuclear power.
“There is only one gear, that is backwards.” It must be made clear to people that the rise of the AfD also has dangerous consequences for the economic and export nation.
Politicians must speak directly to people and not lecture them.
The AfD in the state parliament defended itself against the allegations.
“Kretschmann has had the chance to provide us with content since 2016.
Instead, he ignored us or insulted us or both,” said parliamentary group leader Anton Baron on Tuesday.
The AfD is not backward-looking, but rather a pacesetter.
“And over a fifth of German voters see it that way.”
“Xenophobia and racism have no place with us and are a threat to the region and the business location,” said the President of the IHK Region Stuttgart, Claus Paal, and the IHK General Manager there, Susanne Herre.
“As an export region, we benefit from open markets and European unification.
We therefore raise our voices resolutely against all attempts to deny people the right to live and work here because of their origin.” dpa