After the AfD's electoral success in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, its top candidate Leif-Erik Holm was confronted with criticism of his party on the ZDF program “Markus Lanz”. The AfD politician found himself on the defensive several times on Wednesday evening, particularly when it came to the topics of Europe, Russia and migration.
The starting point for the discussion was the state of the Union after the recent state elections. While Kerstin Münstermann, member of the editor-in-chief of the “Rheinische Post”, critically assessed the situation of Chancellor Friedrich Merz and expressed doubts as to whether he would “survive the winter as chancellor”, CSU politician Manfred Weber defended the CDU leader. Merz has the “backing” of the Union and should now implement the announced reforms.
As the story progressed, Holm in particular became the focus. The AfD politician reiterated his call for an end to the so-called firewall and stated that a minority government from the Union could rely on the support of his party in the future. When Lanz asked whether the AfD ultimately wanted to destroy the CDU, Holm replied: "No. For us, it's about taking responsibility for making better politics for the country."
The debate became particularly heated on the subject of Europe. Holm spoke out in favor of a fundamental reorganization of the European Union. They want to “rebuild” the EU and give the nation states more sovereignty again.
When Lanz wanted to know how much Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania benefited from European funding, Holm was unable to name a specific amount. The moderator responded by saying: “But you complain about Europe and you have no idea how much money we get from Europe.”
Lanz pointed out that Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania would receive around two billion euros from EU funds in the current funding period. Holm countered that overall, Germany was paying significantly more into Brussels than was flowing back.
The AfD politician also came under pressure during the discussion about Germany's possible exit from the euro. Holm was unable to answer the moderator's question about how many jobs are directly linked to the euro. “Why don’t you deal with something like that if you demand something like that?” Lanz asked, referring to relevant studies.
“Serious calculations by economic institutes say that after five years around 2.5 million jobs would probably be gone.” The damage would be almost 700 billion euros, added Lanz. Holm, on the other hand, explained that his party sees significant problems in the current design of the common currency, particularly because of the high levels of debt in some member states.
The exchange about Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine was also controversial. Migration researcher Gerald Knaus warned of the consequences of a stronger AfD at the European level and referred to the security situation in Europe. When asked by Lanz whether he was afraid of Russia, Holm replied: “No, I’m not afraid of Russia.” Rather, he saw the danger that Europe would be drawn into a larger conflict and called for more diplomacy and “verbal disarmament.”
Lanz later accused the AfD politician of ignoring central problems in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. While Holm was able to immediately name the number of people in the state who were legally obliged to leave the country, he did not know important demographic figures. Lanz referred to the serious shortage of skilled workers and the falling birth rates and asked: "Is that really your big problem? Or is your issue demographics?"
At the end of the program, Holm was also confronted with an internal party analysis in which his election campaign was criticized as “too soft” and “too soft”. The AfD politician rejected the allegations and defended his course. They deliberately conducted a moderate election campaign and still achieved a record result. He finds the criticism from his own ranks “incomprehensible”.
Lanz repeatedly asked the question whether the AfD would have to separate itself from more radical forces within the party in order to be considered as a possible coalition partner for the CDU. Holm denied this and described the AfD as a “broad-based people’s party”.
