Financial Times, 12nd August 2019 The Big Read Alternative für Deutschland AfD surge threatened by party disunity The hard-right party is well placed to gain regional seats but faces a power struggle between moderates and extremists Germany, says Andreas Kalbitz, is a sleeping beauty that is about to be kissed awake. The handsome prince entering […]
Deutsche Welle GERMANY, 27/May 2019, Author: Austin Davis EU election: AfD surge in eastern Germany sets up clash of cultures The far-right AfD has emerged as the strongest political party in Germany’s formerly communist East. With the Greens winning big among young, urban voters though, the East-West divide looks set to deepen further. In Sunday’s European […]
In May 2019 I have published a brochure in Estonian on fake news. Partners have been the Estonian Pro Patria Institute and the Konrad Adenauer-Stiftung. Fake news can be created by anybody. You just have to create “news” and need the money to spread it via social media channels. This new method of social interaction […]
On 10th May I participated on an Expert Workshop in the German Federal Foreign Office on “European Parliament Elections 2019. Drivers and Impacts of the Transformation in the European Party System”. The organizer was the Berlin-based Institut für Europäische Politik together with the Planning of the German Federal Foreign Office. “The Institut für Europäische Politik […]
Voices The far right in power in Estonia: A crisis of values or democracy? April 22, 2019 Florian Hartleb The story of Estonia since gaining independence is with no doubt one of success. The small country, with a population less than the German city of Munich and the area of the Netherlands, has […]
GERMANY Calls for AfD lawmaker accused of Russia ties to resign German lawmakers have condemned Markus Frohnmaier amid reports that he was under the influence of the Kremlin. However, the scandal may not be enough to stop the nationalist party from making gains in state elections. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) called […]
Debate on fake news in European Parliament on the 6th March In political terms, lying is so easy compared to other ways of gaining power. There is a dramatic political change for political engagement. It opens the floor for two interpretations. First, the optimistic one: Events such as the Brexit shock and the migration challenge […]
Deutsche Welle , 4/3/2019 EUROPE Far-right ‘stoking fears’ in Estonia’s parliamentary election The far-right EKRE received nearly 18 percent of the vote in Estonia’s recent parliamentary election. Political scientist Florian Hartleb talks to DW about the party’s origins, and what its success means for Europe. DW: The center-right opposition Reform Party won Sunday’s election in Estonia. […]
Is Germany’s media to blame for the inexorable rise of the AfD? Ben Knight Wed 14 Nov 2018 AfD politician Björn Höcke, left, with Pegida founder Lutz Bachmann, second from right, in a commemoration march in Chemnitz in September. Photograph: Jens Meyer/AP Political journalists in Berlin often do a thing called Hintergrundgespräch. This “background conversation” […]
BERLIN POLICY JOURNAL NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 SHARE BEN KNIGHT , OCTOBER 30, 2018 The far-right AfD has gained ever more popularity since its breakthrough in 2017. The party’s rise has been aided by German media and politics, and its rise is set to continue. Political journalists in Berlin often do a thing called a Hintergrundgespräch. This “background conversation,” as […]