AfD Co-Leader Demands Ukraine Repay Billions and Send Home Its Refugees

Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, said on Austrian broadcaster AUF1 that Germany should halt all financial and military aid to Ukraine, and that Kyiv must repay Berlin "significant sums" of money already disbursed. She also argued that young Ukrainian men of conscription age should return home — a group numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

This is not the first time Weidel has made such demands: back in January, she claimed Ukraine owes Germany 70 billion euros (roughly 1.7 trillion crowns) and should also cover the repair costs of the Nord Stream pipeline, over whose sabotage German authorities are prosecuting a group of Ukrainian nationals.

Clash With the Chancellor Over Gas and Peace With Russia

A few days ago, Weidel got into a heated exchange with Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). The AfD co-leader demanded that Berlin end its support for Kyiv and, following Washington's lead, pursue peace talks instead, arguing that Germany needs "cheap gas from Russia." AfD lawmaker Jürgen Kögel went further, referring to the Kremlin leader as "respected President Vladimir Putin" and claiming he poses no threat to NATO.

Chancellor Merz firmly rejected these demands. "We support Ukraine, and we will continue to support it, because it is defending our freedom too," he said.

According to official German government figures, since Russia's invasion began on February 24, 2022, Germany has provided Ukraine with bilateral civilian aid exceeding 43.3 billion euros, and has allocated or earmarked roughly 57.6 billion euros for military support in the coming years. It remains unclear, however, how much of this aid has actually reached Ukraine.

An Exaggerated Claim About Welfare Benefits

Weidel also claimed that "more than a million Ukrainians in Germany are receiving welfare benefits," calling the situation financially unsustainable. These figures appear inflated: according to German authorities, as of May this year, 1.17 million Ukrainians were registered in the country, but only 652,800 people, including children, were actually receiving benefits.

Despite — or perhaps because of — such rhetoric, the AfD's popularity continues to climb. The party scored a decisive victory in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, winning 43.8% of the vote, and pollsters expect it to win in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern this coming weekend as well. According to the aggregated Wahltrend poll (an average of seven surveys conducted between August 20 and September 8), the AfD also leads nationwide with 28% support, ahead of the CDU/CSU bloc (20.5%), the Greens (14.6%) and the Social Democrats of the SPD (11.5%), who round out the list of parties clearing the five-percent threshold.

Source: novinky.cz