AfD’s Maximilian Krah on Europe’s political quake

Germany must find its place in a multipolar world, argues German conservative leader

Maximilian Krah was the Alternative for Germany’s lead candidate for European Parliament, and is one of the most controversial and charismatic personalities in German politics. The AfD (Alternativ für Deutschland) took 16% of German votes in the June 9 election, more than any party in Germany’s present governing coalition, and is expected to poll first in three state elections in September. Born in 1977, Krah left the Christian Democrats in 2016 and was first elected to the European Parliament in 2019. He spoke to Asia Times Editor Uwe Parpart and Deputy Editor David Goldman on June 13. Below is a lightly edited transcript of their discussion.

Q: Maximilian Krah, that was a significant victory – an earthquake, even. It has set off and continues to set off shockwaves. How did it happen? Specifically, what did German voters, your voters, vote for and against?

A: The game changer was the young people. The youngsters made the difference. We saw a 12% increase among voters younger than 24.

The left allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, thinking they would support leftist candidates. However, within that group, aged 16 to 24, we gained 12%. We are now the strongest political force among the under-24 demographic, with a total of 17%.

This is the game changer because it shows that the future is ours, provided we don’t make mistakes again. We could have done much better if we had adopted more of Donald Trump’s style. During the campaign, I was a victim of some intelligence attacks.

Unfortunately, my party decided to hide me for some weeks, limiting my campaign efforts to TikTok and the internet, focusing on young voters. The gain among young