, Columnist
Germany’s Far-Right Is Eyeing a MAGA-Style Divide
But can the protest party’s rabble rousers cooperate with the establishment?
The AfD’s Beatrix von Storch.
Photographer: Maja Hitij/Getty Images EuropeAfter its stunning success as a protest party, Germany’s far-right AfD or Alternative für Deutschland, has arrived at a crossroads with a stark choice: cooperate with the establishment or remain on the outside looking in.
At the last general election in February, the AfD doubled its vote share, coming in second with the support of one in five Germans. High as those figures are, they don’t come close to an outright majority. In Germany’s complex electoral system, parties almost always need a coalition partner to rule, and the other parties have ruled out working with the AfD.