Sunday

1st Oct 2023

Controversial author praises German anti-euro party

  • Thilo Sarrazin stays with the Social-Democratic Party despite all criticism (Photo: Valentina Pop)

Thilo Sarrazin is an unusual politician. A member of the German Social Democrats since 1974, he became a household name in 2010 after publishing his best-selling "Deutschland schafft sich ab" (Germany is doing away with itself) - a controversial book about the impact of Muslim migration on his ageing country.

Sarrazin is no fan of political correctness, he prefers the term "virtue terror."

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"I am not incorrect, politically or of any other sort, I am a very correct person," Sarrazin said Monday (24 February) when launching his latest book: "The new virtue terror."

The book is an attack on political correctness and the idea - strongly defended by his own party - that all people are equal.

Whether it is railing against the euro (he wrote an anti-euro book in 2012) or limiting migration to highly educated people, Sarrazin is closer in his ideology to the newly-founded Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD), a party that almost made it into the Bundestag and is slated to enter the European Parliament after the 25 May elections.

"The economic competence in the AfD is bigger than in the leadership of the SPD, CDU and CSU combined," Sarrazin said at the press conference.

A former member of the Bundesbank board, his views on the economy and the euro are as hawkish as those of the AfD leadership.

Pressed on the question of joining the new party, Sarrazin said he still feels "at home" in the SPD and that he prefers a party which is not a "single-issue party" like the euro-critical AfD.

But the AfD recently has expanded to other issues, notably "welfare tourism" and migration. At a party congress on 22-23 March, AfD members are set to approve the party's programme for the EU elections. It is on this occasion that the party is likely to formally expand its platform from calling for a break-up of the single currency to other topics.

The success of Sarrazin's book, as well as the unexpected result of the AfD less than a year after it was officially launched, reflect a growing frustration among German voters with the establishment and its discourse on the euro-crisis and migration.

Sensitive to societal shifts, Chancellor Merkel has already fine-tuned her rhetoric and allowed more political room to her Bavarian partners, the CSU, who are now campaigning on abolishing "welfare tourism."

German eurosceptics on the rise ahead of EU elections

Anti-euro and anti-immigrant sentiment is shaping the EU election campaign in Germany, with a newcomer party that promises an "alternative" to the single currency set to enter the European Parliament.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Column

Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?

International media must make clear that these are not fair, democratic elections. The flawed race should be the story at least as much as the race itself.

Latest News

  1. EU women promised new dawn under anti-violence pact
  2. Three steps EU can take to halt Azerbaijan's mafia-style bullying
  3. Punish Belarus too for aiding Putin's Ukraine war
  4. Added-value for Russia diamond ban, as G7 and EU prepare sanctions
  5. EU states to agree on asylum crisis bill, say EU officials
  6. Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'
  7. Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling
  8. Germany tightens police checks on Czech and Polish border

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  2. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us