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Björn Höcke: Demonstrated in Dresden on Friday, together with Pegida founder Lutz Bachmann and the former Austrian FPÖ Vice Chancellor Hans-Christian Strache
Photo: Jacob Schroeter / imago images/Jacob Schroeter
Björn Höcke is obviously enthusiastic about the rally by Sahra Wagenknecht and Alice Schwarzer that took place this Saturday in Berlin.
Like the two women, he called for a stop to arms deliveries to Ukraine at a demonstration in Dresden on Friday evening.
He also invited the left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht to the applause of the audience to join his party, the AfD: "I beg you, come to us," he said;
In his party, Wagenknecht could make the policy she dreams of - unlike in the left: "You will never enforce your ideas of peace policy with this party." This was first reported by the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" and the "Bild".
In fact, Wagenknecht is pursuing a course on the Ukraine issue that differs from that of her party.
The party leadership decided against participating in the rally because they cannot see that Schwarzer and Wagenknecht are sufficiently distancing themselves from rights.
»Proud and happy«
AfD politicians and other right-wingers had already campaigned for participation in the past few weeks.
They recognize their own course in the demand for immediate peace negotiations and an end to western arms deliveries.
When he invited Höcke, he was "proud and happy" that Wagenknecht and Schwarzer organized the protest against government policy "against much resistance".
Wagenknecht's reaction to Höcke's offer has not yet been announced.
As soon as the AfD party leader Tino Chrupalla announced his support, she told SPIEGEL: "By selecting our first signers of our petition, we made it clear with whom we work and from whom we hope to get support - and from whom we don't. “AfD politicians are not among the first to sign.
mamk/dpa