Weidel: AfD to learn from Trump in Euro poll campaign скачать в хорошем качестве

Weidel: AfD to learn from Trump in Euro poll campaign

(8 May 2019) Europe's new right could take a page out of US President Donald Trump's populist playbook when it comes to winning support ahead of this month's European elections, says the co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Alice Weidel, a 40-year-old economist known for her stinging attacks on the European Union, is at the vanguard of a movement that's challenging Europe's post-war consensus of ever-greater political cooperation. "You can learn a lot from Trump's election campaign, including in terms of mobilising people and issues", Weidel told The Associated Press on Tuesday, noting that mainstream pundits underestimated Trump's chances of winning right up to the end. She also praised former White House strategist Steve Bannon's ability to harness the media to push Trump's message. Weidel's party has invited Bannon to a networking event Saturday in Berlin, although it's unclear whether he will attend. "What's existentially important, also for us, is of course the creation of a certain public, of free media for example, in which we can also reflect our positions", she said in a wide-ranging interview in her party's parliamentary offices. "And we really have a problem with that at the moment." Mainstream media in Germany have highlighted the forays of her party, known by its German acronym AfD, into far-right ideology, anti-Semitic statements and ties to neo-Nazis. Her co-leader, Alexander Gauland, referred to the time of Adolf Hitler's dictatorship as a "speck of bird poop" in Germany's history, while Bjoern Hoecke, a powerful party leader in the east, has suggested it's time for the country to stop atoning for its Nazi past. Weidel initially focused on criticising the shared euro currency, but as that party faction waned she has increasingly turned her attention to stronger borders and restrictive migration policies. While those are common themes for all of Europe's right-wing and far-right parties, they have differed on how to respond. Weidel questioned whether Bannon's brand of hyper-partisan media can be transplanted across the Atlantic, saying a cookie-cutter approach to promoting nationalist parties across Europe would fail. "Europe is much more diverse, it is not so homogeneous", Weidel said, adding "we consist of different states with different language areas and with different stories and of course with different dynamics". Ahead of the European Parliament elections, which are taking place in the EU's 28 nations from May 23-26, Weidel's AfD has joined forces with nationalist parties in other EU countries, including the populist, anti-migrant League in Italy and France's far-right National Rally. Still, some differences are pronounced. The AfD and Scandinavia's right-wing favour a market economy, for instance, while the National Rally is more protectionist. And the League, the National Rally and the AfD are all pro-Russian, putting them at odds with Poland's PiS party and the Finns Party in Finland. The May 26 European Parliament vote in Germany will test AfD's ability to keep increasing support since its founding in 2013. The AfD entered the EU Parliament with more than 7 percent of the vote in 2014 - and it's predicted to get a double-digit result this time. AfD's platform for the European election proposes that Germany quits the EU - following Britain's lead - unless there are substantial reforms. Weidel wouldn't set a reform deadline, but said Germany should hand the EU a list of demands just like former British Prime Minister David Cameron did in 2015. "It's not forbidden, but of course it wasn't wise", Weidel said. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...