German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the German parliament, the Bundestag, gave a barbed response to opening remarks fromย the far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) co-leader Alice Weider, who lambasted Germany’s ruling coalition as a “failure.”ย
The Bundestag debate comes days after theย AfD’sย after its strong showing in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, warning the party against assuming it was on course for broader majorities.
“Ms Weidel, today you can barely contain yourself,” Merz told AfD co-leader Alice Weidel during the Bundestag’s general debate on Wednesday. “But you do not have an absolute majority, and you will not achieve one in Germany.”
“Nowhere in Germany will you win majorities with this politics,” Merz said. “You are, and you remain a destructive force.”
Merz acknowledged that the AfD had achieved “a remarkable election result in every respect” in Saxony-Anhalt.
“The voters spoke pretty clearly. They also sent us, and me personally, a clear message,” he said.
However,ย he stressed that the AfD had failed to achieve its stated goal of securing an absolute majority in the state parliament in Magdeburg.
Merz accused the AfD of showing “contempt for our democratic institutions” and of repeatedly denigrating representatives of the state.
“You are and will remain a destructive force,” Merz said.
He said there was a “deep divide” between the AfD and the other parties in foreign, European, social and peace policy.
Merz also accused the AfD of damaging German interests through its friendly stance towards Russia.
“The only thing that really threatens Russia and Putin is the appeal of democracy,” he said. “And yet you are obviously still standing on Russia’s side.”
“You are part of the problem we have in Germany โ and we will resist that with everything at our disposal.”