German election

AfD vows to fight ‘invasion of foreigners’

Germany's right-wing, nationalist AfD party has vowed to fight "an invasion of foreigners" into the country, after winning its first parliamentary seats, reports BBC.

"We want a different policy," co-leader Alexander Gauland said following the historic surge.

But splits have already emerged between AfD leaders on the party's direction.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has been re-elected for a fourth term but her conservative CDU/CSU bloc received its worst result in almost 70 years.

Mrs Merkel is beginning negotiations to form a new coalition government.

Her bloc's current coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), say they will go into opposition after historic losses. But Chancellor Merkel said she would still approach them for talks, in addition to the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens.

AfD's campaign capitalised on a backlash over Mrs Merkel's decision to open Germany's borders to undocumented migrants and refugees in 2015, mainly from the Middle East.

Its success has shocked Germany's political establishment, and protests against the anti-Islam party have been held in several cities following the election result.

"One million people, foreigners, being brought into this country are taking away a piece of this country and we as AfD don't want that," Mr Gauland told a news conference on Monday.

"We say I don't want to lose Germany to an invasion of foreigners from a different culture. Very simple." He said AFD (Alternative for Germany) - which is expected to take 94 seats in the 709-seat federal parliament as the third-largest party - had been elected "to uncompromisingly address" immigration issues.

But discord is already evident in the party - with another leader, Frauke Petry, declaring at the same news conference she would not join AfD's parliamentary group despite winning a seat, before abruptly leaving the room to the surprise of other leaders.

Ms Petry, who is the best-known AfD figure, said there was "disagreement over content" in the party.

The move is a sign that having won her own seat and led the party to a strong result, Ms Petry is feeling confident enough to mould it in her own image, the BBC's Damien McGuinness in Berlin says.

She wants to make AfD more moderate and tone down its nationalist rhetoric, he adds.

While her bloc remains the largest in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, it is the worst result for the alliance between the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) since 1949, when national elections were held in Germany for the first time after World War Two.

Addressing supporters, Mrs Merkel, who has been in the job for 12 years, said she had hoped for a "better result" but later added: "We have a clear mission to govern."

She added that she would listen to the "concerns, worries and anxieties" of AfD voters - one million of whom she said deserted her party - in order to win them back.

 

German election

AfD vows to fight invasion of foreigners

Germanys right-wing, nationalist AfD party has vowed to fight an invasion of foreigners into the country, after winning its first parliamentary seats, reports BBC. We want a different policy, co-leader Alexander Gauland said following the historic surge. But splits have already emerged between AfD leaders on the partys direction. Chancellor Angela Merkel has been re-elected for a fourth term but her conservative CDU/CSU bloc received its worst result in almost 70 years. Mrs Merkel is beginning negotiations to form a new coalition government. Her blocs current coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), say they will go into opposition after historic losses. But Chancellor Merkel said she would still approach them for talks, in addition to the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens. AfDs campaign capitalised on a backlash over Mrs Merkels decision to open Germanys borders to undocumented migrants and refugees in 2015, mainly from the Middle East. Its success has shocked Germanys political establishment, and protests against the anti-Islam party have been held in several cities following the election result. One million people, foreigners, being brought into this country are taking away a piece of this country and we as AfD dont want that, Mr Gauland told a news conference on Monday. We say I dont want to lose Germany to an invasion of foreigners from a different culture. Very simple. He said AFD (Alternative for Germany) - which is expected to take 94 seats in the 709-seat federal parliament as the third-largest party - had been elected to uncompromisingly address immigration issues. But discord is already evident in the party - with another leader, Frauke Petry, declaring at the same news conference she would not join AfDs parliamentary group despite winning a seat, before abruptly leaving the room to the surprise of other leaders. Ms Petry, who is the best-known AfD figure, said there was disagreement over content in the party. The move is a sign that having won her own seat and led the party to a strong result, Ms Petry is feeling confident enough to mould it in her own image, the BBCs Damien McGuinness in Berlin says. She wants to make AfD more moderate and tone down its nationalist rhetoric, he adds. While her bloc remains the largest in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, it is the worst result for the alliance between the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) since 1949, when national elections were held in Germany for the first time after World War Two. Addressing supporters, Mrs Merkel, who has been in the job for 12 years, said she had hoped for a better result but later added: We have a clear mission to govern. She added that she would listen to the concerns, worries and anxieties of AfD voters - one million of whom she said deserted her party - in order to win them back.