Europe VS European Union

The Deputy of Saxon Landtag from the "Alternative for Germany" party on the future of the EU

The European Union is now facing political transformations. It is symbolic that this decision was taken by Switzerland one week before the UK referendum on withdrawal from the EU, in which the majority wanted the country to leave the European Union. I think that this decision will help Switzerland say ‘no’ the European Union. Many countries are thinking about this as well, and I hope that Switzerland and the United Kingdom are not the last countries to do so. The European Union, in its current form, cannot be reformed. It must be finished, and we have to create a new economic union as before, where all countries are sovereign and settle their own internal and external problems. An economic alliance. This new alliance must include a new important actor: Russia.

Brussels is constantly putting pressure on the EU in all matters. It is interesting that Switzerland, for us, is a very important democratic example. In Switzerland, the people can veto any state decision. This is the only country in Europe where such is possible. Therefore, the Government of Switzerland does not make decisions that are known to be vetoed by citizens. Thus, Brussels’ pressure on Europe will not change the Eurosceptic course. Switzerland is doing what it wants, not what Brussels wants.

The opinion of Alternative for Germany (AfD) is that we want sanctions to be lifted as soon as possible. We see that these sanctions are political in their nature and related to the East-Ukrainian issue. These sanctions violate economic relations between Russia and Germany. In Germany, the sanctions have affected not only production, but also agriculture. They do not give the country any benefits, but destroy our economy. They should be lifted as soon as possible.

The AfD party is against the EU. We pay attention to the economy on this matter. Our government began to invest billions in Greece, or rather, in its banks. Yet Greece remained in the same position while our banks improved theirs. Traditional values are another important point of our program. We stand for the traditional education of children, and this is a big part of our political activity. We believe that we must preserve our traditions.

The next is our attitude towards America. This is quite complex, since the USA is our partner. But we see most clearly in recent years that Germany has become more and more become dependent on America. This is bad. Our foreign policy is being decided in Germany, but the fate of our country -  in Washington. We must free ourselves, perhaps within NATO, but if this is still impossible, then perhaps we will have to withdraw from NATO in the future.

We're quite a young party, so we are just beginning to find new relationships and ties. This is not easy, as a lot of changes must be made first in Germany. But we understand that we are very weak with no other countries’ support for the national movement in Germany. Of course, some countries have had greater successes such as Austria, for example, where the Freedom Party won about 50 percent of votes in the presidential election! They are our partners and we will cooperate with them in the future.