Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), a party that doubled its representation to 152 seats and consolidated itself as the second-largest political force in the country in the last election, now occupies a visible and dominant position in the German parliament. Yet, the legacy parties in Berlin have chosen to disrespect that and, in accordance with their anti-democratic reflexes, exclude, censor, and show contempt for the party that was the second most favoured by voters at the ballot box in February.
On Tuesday, March 25, during the constitutive session of the 21st Bundestag, AfD was handed its first formal blow.The party was not allowed to occupy any positions of power it would be entitled to on the basis of its parliamentary mandates. Their candidate for vice president of the parliament, MP Gerold Otten, was rejected in three consecutive votes. The official argument is well known: a cordon sanitaire is needed as a form of ’democratic defense’ against the ‘far right.’ This ideological barrier is in fact a tool of censorship wielded by a political class unwilling to cede control, snubbing the will of the electorate.
“It’s anti-democratic,” denounced Sascha Lensing, a newly elected AfD MP, emphasizing that the establishment parties are thus discriminating not only against his party, but also the millions of citizens who voted for it.
With its 152 seats the AfD represents one in four German voters, surpassing the SPD (120) and the Green Party (85). Its growth has not resulted from a more moderate tone—as was attempted by Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National—but from clearly reaffirming an alternative to the globalist, multicultural, and progressive course that dominates Berlin and Brussels.
A recurring pattern in Europe
What has happened in the Bundestag is not a German anomaly but another manifestation of a strategy widely employed by European establishment parties. We’ve seen it in Sweden, France, Spain, and also in the European Parliament: (EP). The systematic exclusion from EP positions of MEPs belonging to groups like Patriots for Europe, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), or Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) follows an identical pattern.
Following the 2019 European elections, the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Renew Europe (Liberals), the Greens, and the Left formed an informal yet highly effective coalition to block any sovereignist and patriotic parties from vice presidencies, key committees, or rapporteur positions. In June 2024, Italian MEP Nicola Procaccini (ECR) condemned the practice in the European Parliament after more than 30 candidates proposed by his group for institutional positions were rejected.
“It’s a cordon sanitaire against sovereignty, against the peoples of Europe, not against the far right,” he stated forcefully. And he was correct.
It is also paradoxical that the same parties accusing AfD of being a “threat to democracy” never shy away from manipulating rules and procedures to maintain their hegemony. In Germany, chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz (CDU) used the final days of the previous Bundestag—where there was no blocking minority—to pass a multi-billion euro debt package before AfD and Die Linke could obstruct it with their newly increased parliamentary strength—a maneuver that may be legal but betrays the democratic spirit.
Similarly, Julia Klöckner (CDU), the new Bundestag president, responded to AfD’s complaint about their institutional exclusion with a dismissive remark: “Majorities obtained democratically are no cartels.”
Maybe so, but the way they have is certainly reminiscent of that. And the people notice: in every regional election, AfD is gaining more strength. If proportional institutional representation continues to be denied, each attack will become a mobilization tool. As Lensing warned: “The more they act like this, the more votes we will receive.”
A cornerstone of democracy is the acceptance of the results of legitimate elections. If Germany and Europe’s political elites continue to refuse to coexist with sovereignist and patriotic forces legitimized by the will of millions of people, they risk pushing the system into a legitimacy crisis with unpredictable consequences.
