“We will have to live with the success of the AfD for another 5 to 10 years. If things go well,” says Habeck

Former Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) expects the AfD's success to continue for several years. "We will have to live with right-wing populist parties and the success of the AfD for another five to ten years. If things go well. If things go badly, much longer. But the longer we wait, the worse it will get. In this respect, we are in a race to defend democracy," said Habeck in an interview with the "Handelsblatt" published on Sunday.

Habeck does not attribute the rise of the AfD to controversial issues such as migration, climate protection or the rhetoric of Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). These are important problems, but the explanation goes deeper: The AfD will be elected where people are particularly exposed to globalization and the changes in industrial society. “Certain jobs will disappear, not because a Green party wanted it that way, but because market forces work that way.” The decisive factor is whether new jobs are created that are accessible to those affected. That could be successful, but it will take time.

Habeck had already argued with the same reasoning in the ARD program “Caren Miosga” at the end of September: “The reason why the political center is becoming thinner and thinner cannot be due to heat pumps or pensions at 63.”

Habeck had already made a similar statement in the “Tagesspiegel” at the beginning of October. Democracy was stable, he said at the time.

But if it is not possible to strengthen trust in the institutions, solve social problems and enable more participation, “then in ten to 15 years there will be a risk of conditions like those in Saxony-Anhalt also at the federal level,” he said in the “Handelsblatt”. He sees the forecast as a “command not to let it happen”. In Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD became the strongest force in the state elections in September with more than 40 percent and only narrowly missed the absolute majority of seats. In nationwide surveys, the AfD has been ahead of the Union for months.

“A mistake” – Habeck criticizes the federal government over Canada

In the “Handelsblatt” newspaper, Habeck also accused the federal government of preventing Canada from establishing closer ties to the EU. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney “currently best embodies the European idea”. “The fact that the German government is preventing the EU and Canada from moving closer together is a mistake.” Germany, like several other member states, rejected EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's proposal to make Canada the first "associated member" of the EU. When asked whether Merz was following Carney's path, Habeck replied: "I'm afraid not." Europe must become independent of American and Chinese technology in important industries. "Our state isn't particularly good at going fast. But it makes the rules for speed."

About US President Donald Trump, Habeck said: “What he obviously is as a person: greedy and corrupt.” As a politician, Trump invokes “Manifest Destiny,” the 19th century idea that the United States is destined for expansion. This resulted in his claims to Canada, Greenland and parts of Central America. “And then suddenly you no longer wonder about the attraction that Putin has for him.” From Habeck's point of view, a solid merger between Xi Jinping's China, Trump's USA and Putin's Russia would be “a nightmare scenario for Europe”.

Germany considers Habeck to be particularly vulnerable. At the presentation of his book “Arctic Meltdown” at the Lit.Cologne in Cologne at the beginning of October, he said that Germany was “fully in the crosshairs”. Unlike other countries in Europe, it has a “torn history”. “Even during my time, the secret services from abroad told me: Germany is considered an easy target, a low-hanging fruit.”

Habeck was Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Economics from 2021 to 2025, and in the 2025 federal election he stood as the Green Party's candidate for chancellor. He then withdrew from federal politics and now works at the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen. The AfD has been ahead of the Union in nationwide surveys for months.