Germany’s far right under pressure as nepotism allegations mount

BERLIN — The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is facing allegations of systemic nepotism that threaten to shatter its self-styled anti-establishment image ahead of a series of key elections.

The AfD has risen to become the country’s largest opposition force in no small part by casting itself as a populist alternative to what it depicts as the self-serving, underhanded Altparteien, or “old parties” — the mainstream groups that have long governed.

But now, in a crowded year of elections — what Germans are dubbing a Superwahljahr, or “super election year” — that includes five state races and numerous local contests seen as key tests of the national mood, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s governing conservatives, who are currently tied for first place with the AfD in national polls, are attacking the far-right party as hypocritical.

“We must not only take a hard line against the AfD on the issues but also confront it as the party of supposed clean men and patriots,” said Merz in an interview with German newspaper Die Rheinpfalz. “The party is characterized by deeply entrenched cronyism and nepotism.”

The first accusations surfaced in an investigative report on German public television earlier this month alleging that two AfD politicians in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, including the party’s lead candidate in an upcoming election there, had family members employed by an AfD lawmaker in the national parliament.

After that, further allegations surfaced in almost daily news reports implicating AfD lawmakers in four additional state branches and in the European Parliament accused of either employing relatives of fellow party politicians or having their own relatives employed by them.

Under current rules, German lawmakers are prohibited from employing relatives, partners, or ex-partners at taxpayer expense. The employment of family members by other lawmakers is, however, permitted.

Party leaders have claimed the allegations of nepotism are unjustified and overblown.

“We are reviewing everything that comes to our attention, and we are conducting discussions and examining individual cases,” AfD national co-leader Alice Weidel said on Tuesday. “It has become clear that the accusations from the media are indeed unfounded and completely exaggerated.”

The party’s other national leader, Tino Chrupalla, said party politicians had done nothing to violate German law, but nevertheless acknowledged the practice of employing relatives left a “bad taste” in voters’ mouths.

A few days later, however, he admitted in a post on X that he employs the wife of an AfD state parliamentarian.

‘Fake news’

One of the most prominent AfD politicians implicated in the nepotism accusations is Ulrich Siegmund, the party’s lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, where it is polling in first place at around 40 percent.

It’s here that AfD leaders are hoping to take real governing power for the first time since the party was founded in 2013. They’re targeting an absolute majority win in an election set for Sept. 6.

Siegmund’s father earns about €92,000 a year as an employee of national AfD lawmaker Thomas Korell, according to the public television investigation in which the allegations first surfaced. Korell also employs both parents of another AfD lawmaker from Saxony-Anhalt, according to the report.

Korell’s office declined to respond to questions from POLITICO on the employment of relatives, citing privacy regulations.

But Siegmund has not publicly denied his father is employed by Korell. Instead, he has defended the practice of hiring relatives, arguing in an online video post that it’s necessary because many professionals don’t want the stigma of working for the AfD — and that it’s a way of finding employees it can rely on.

“I’m saying quite openly why this is not a problem at all, why I actually think it’s a good thing, and why I myself would have no problem at all with hiring a family member of another member of parliament or party colleague,” he said. “Because trust is what matters to us.”

Three days later, in another video, however, Siegmund called the nepotism allegations “fake news” and part of a smear campaign intended to thwart the party’s rise.

“Do you recall when I said a few months ago that they would try everything below the belt to prevent our election success from becoming a historic sensation?” he said. “That is precisely what is beginning now.”

Lawmakers from other parties in the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament are now planning a reform of parliamentary rules to prohibit lawmakers from employing family members of their colleagues.

‘Serious damage’

For now, the AfD doesn’t appear to have suffered in polls due to the allegations, including in its strongholds in the former East Germany.

Anna-Sophie Heinze, a researcher focusing on the AfD at the University of Trier, said she does not expect declining support in coming months because the party’s electorate is “entrenched and convinced,” adding: “The AfD is really in a very good strategic position.”

But as the accusations mount, there is clearly nervousness within the rank-and-file, particularly as Merz’s conservatives hammer the AfD over the issue ahead of state elections.

About 150 AfD members in Saxony-Anhalt have demanded their regional branch convene an extraordinary party conference to discuss the practice of employing relatives ahead of the elections. But a spokesperson for the party in Saxony-Anhalt said Monday that the party would instead establish a commission to develop recommendations on employment standards.

Götz Kubitschek, a well-known extreme-right activist with connections to the AfD’s most radical fringe, also expressed concern that the party is losing credibility with its base in an online post.

“Hardly anything can threaten the AfD,” he wrote. “But it can cause itself serious damage.”