In the structural crisis faced by Volkswagen, Europe's largest automobile manufacturer, where job cuts are increasing and could potentially affect up to 100,000 jobs, the once proud 'Made in Germany' brand is fading due to high energy costs.
Companionship with him is what makes a historical earthquake shake the deep waters of German politics.
On June 30 local time, Reuters published an exclusive interview with Alice Weidel, the co-leader of the German Alternative Party (AfD). This female politician, seen by her supporters as a strong candidate for Germany's future prime minister, spoke frankly about the root cause of Germany's current industrial decline: "Cheap energy from Russia is the secret to the success of 'Made in Germany'. We need it back."
As the German Choice Party surges in national polls, reaching over 27% and approaching the position of the largest party, Weider is leading the party to extend its influence towards the Prime Minister’s office in Berlin, the capital. Faced with this trend, the anxious mainstream establishment once again introduced the "Constitutional Inquiry" as a tool, attempting to preserve their fragile "political firewall" by prosecuting or even banning the party.
This struggle between the establishment and the surging public opinion is pushing German politics to its most divided moment since the end of the Cold War.
June 25, 2026, Berlin, Germany - German Democratic Party Chairwoman Alice Wilder accepted an interview from Reuters at her office balcony in Berlin. IC Photo
The 47-year-old Weidel studied business and economics before entering politics. She worked for well-known companies such as Goldman Sachs and Allianz, but soon became bored with her work. Then, she went to China to pursue a doctorate in economics, studying China's pension system. She also worked as a freelance business consultant. She is fluent in both English and Mandarin. However, she said in an interview that she had forgotten how to speak Chinese due to the long time without using it.
In 2013, Weidel joined the German Choice Party because she opposed the bailout measures during the eurozone crisis. At that time, the party's stance was not yet significantly right-leaning, and it focused more on opposing immigration. She has openly identified as a lesbian and raises two children together with a film producer from Sri Lanka.
As an economic liberal, Wiedehr sees the late British Prime Minister and 'Iron Lady' Margaret Thatcher as his role model. He believes that if Germany cannot carry out sufficient reforms within the EU, it should promote a referendum on becoming a member of the EU, similar to Britain's Brexit decision. The German Choice Party he represents also calls for ending sanctions against Russia and cutting off aid to Ukraine.
In an interview with Reuters, Weidel not only did not avoid the accusations of being pro-Russia by the public, but he also presented a harsh economic analysis.
Losing these (Russian) energy sources has pushed us back several years, with tens of thousands of jobs lost. This leaves us reliant on the United States, and the energy prices they sell to us are much higher." she said.
As Weidel said, with the sanctions against Russia in place and the "North Stream" pipeline destroyed, Germany's industry has had to swallow the bitter pill of having to pay high prices for alternative energy sources.
According to Reuters, before the sanctions against Russia due to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, more than one-third of Germany's crude oil and more than half of its natural gas imports came from Russia. After the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline in September 2022, Germany has also been trying to recover from the impact caused by the paralysis of this crucial underwater natural gas pipeline.
Affected by the soaring energy costs, Germany's industry remains in a slump. To make matters worse, car giant Volkswagen is planning the largest restructuring plan in its history, which includes laying off 100,000 employees and closing four local German factories.
In order to get cheap Russian energy back into Germany, the AfD has initiated substantial diplomatic efforts.
In early June this year, Markus Frohnmaier, a senior member of the German Choice Party, traveled to Russia personally. He met with Alexei Miller, the president of Gazprom, and called for the reopening of the Nord Stream pipeline.
Frohme revealed that Miller, on behalf of the Russian side, had made a clear commitment that once political obstacles were removed, it would only take “three months” to resume the natural gas supply via the ‘North Stream’ pipeline. In response to criticism from domestic establishment figures who alleged there were secret connections behind this move, Frohme argued that he knew that even American investors were privately discussing the possibility of reopening the ‘North Stream’ pipeline. “We must be cautious and not miss the opportunity to return to the Russian market.”
The reason why the Alternative for Germany has the courage to challenge the inherent "diplomatic taboos" within its country is due to the substantial and growing popular support behind it.
The news website Euractiv, based in Brussels and focusing on EU policies, reported in a post on June 30 local time that recent polls show the German Choice Party has maintained a support rate of 27% or higher. It is leading the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by current Chancellor Merz, making it one of the parties with the highest public support rates in Germany.
In this context, the local elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which are scheduled to take place in September this year, are seen by Weider as a 'key milestone' towards entering the ruling position.
In these two states, the German Choice Party has a significantly higher poll support rate. This is especially true in Saxony-Anhalt, where the party holds an absolute lead in polls.
Once the Alternative for Germany party gains control, the governments in these two states will challenge Berlin's immigration policies. They believe that these policies are too generous and refuse to shift financial burdens onto local governments. At the same time, this will disrupt Germany's traditional committee-based government consensus model and potentially provide a stepping stone for the Alternative for Germany party to gain nationwide dominance.
"If we win Saxony-Anhalt, then Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is very likely to follow suit. I believe that the German Choice party will either achieve victory in the next election or take control of the prime ministerial post in the next one." Weidert said with confidence.
For mainstream parties like the CDU led by Merz, they have always refused to cooperate with the Alternative for Germany. These mainstream parties believe that if this far-right party wins in Saxony-Anhalt, it would be a heavy blow to what is called the ‘coalition firewall’, which is meant to prevent the Alternative for Germany from coming to power.
Seeing that the rise of the German Choice Party is unstoppable, the anxiety among the established German party members has reached its peak, and they have even begun to resort to some “unconventional measures”.
According to the Spanish newspaper El País, reported on July 1st local time, the German Federal Interior Ministry and the Federal Constitutional Protection Agency (BfV) jointly released an annual security report the day before. The report warned that by 2025, the number of members of the Alternative for Germany party in Germany with 'extreme right-wing extremist tendencies' had increased by 40%, reaching 28,000 people, which is nearly 40% of its total of 70,000 members.
June 12, 2026, Erfort City, Thuringia, Germany. In the days leading up to the AfD federal party congress in Germany, approximately 12 people staged a demonstration supporting returning migrants at the Boienburg harbour station. They waved the German flag and displayed slogans calling for repatriation. IC Photo
With the release of this report, a heated debate in German politics has resumed over whether the German Alternative Party should be banned by the Constitutional Court. Some establishment politicians and left-wing scholars have lobbied the Federal Constitutional Court, attempting to label the German Alternative Party as unconstitutional and to ban it.
The think tank organization Europe for Stability Initiative (ESI) recently released a report expressing concern that the rise of the German Choice Party is destroying the foundation on which Germany has been integrated into European integration for nearly 80 years.
However, analysis generally suggests that launching a ban procedure is tantamount to a “political suicide” for the Party of Choice in Germany, which already has nearly one-third of the electorate behind it.
German media warn that if a party with the highest or second-highest support rate is forcibly abolished at this time, it will not only face significant legal controversy, but its supporters may also interpret this as an "open manipulation of democratic elections by the establishment," thereby triggering even more intense political backlash. This could even lead to social unrest and division.
In Germany, after the party was labeled as an 'extremist party' by its national intelligence agency last year, Weidel denied accusations that her party was extremist.
"We have fundamentally different perceptions of ourselves and our political opponents, " she said. “People call us the 'far-right'. In fact, we are a party that serves the common people. If we were to take power, we would not overturn everything.”
